Haunted
by Etheral
Summary: [AU] Jack has moved into the Mercers', leaving his past behind, and things seem to be looking up for him. However, a new school and a new friend are bound to make things complicated, and secrets can't stay hidden forever. JackOC, JackBobby, Slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything, please don't get me.

**Warnings: **Please look at the rating; it is there for a reason. This is a dark piece, with non-con, violence and mature themes. It is also slash / yaoi / whatever people call it, so if you don't 'approve' of this, I'm not making you read it.

**Chapter 1**

"Jackie! Get up, ya little fairy! You have school in an hour!"

Jack groaned and sat up in bed, hearing Bobby call him from downstairs. He gazed blearily at his alarm clock (which apparently wasn't working) and found his brother to be right. Grimacing, he rolled out of bed, slightly scared of Bobby coming into his room and dousing him with cold water if he fell asleep again… like last time.

He could hear Evelyn telling Bobby off for calling him a 'fairy' again, but Jack didn't really mind. At sixteen, he had come to the conclusion that if he was ever going to become less coltish and be as tough as Bobby; that would have happened by now. Besides, it wasn't like he meant any harm by it; it was just teasing, and Jack could put up with that easy. He'd been through a lot worse, after all.

Shaking himself from that particular train of thought, he glanced around for something to wear. Although living with the Mercers had stopped him thinking about his past, every so often he would drift off and remember everything.

But not now.

No, it was a new day in his new life, everything else was over. Jack walked over to a cardboard box that still contained most of his clothes, despite having a perfectly fine dresser, and pulled on some jeans and a T-shirt with his favourite rock band on it. He knew kids usually dressed up for their first day at a new school, but he had given up that idea pretty quickly. After being shifted around foster care so much there is a limit to how exciting your seventh or eighth new school is to you. This time was no different. He had been kicked out of the last one after he had gotten into a fight with another boy who had said something about Evelyn, and now he was going to the one his brothers went to. Well, all except for Bobby, who had left years ago, but he used to go there.

"Darling, I know you want your beauty sleep," Bobby said, now outside his door, "but if you want breakfast, you're gonna have to get your ass out of bed."

Rolling his eyes, Jack moved to the door and flung it open, raising an eyebrow at his brother. Bobby gave him a shit-eating grin.

"Well, about time, Jackie."

Not sparing Bobby a word, he walked out into the hall and headed towards the kitchen. His brother followed and slung an arm around his shoulders.

"Excited about your new school?" Bobby asked.

Jack shrugged, despite the weight of his brother's arm around his neck, and fixed his gaze on the floor.

"It's a nice place," Bobby continued as if Jack had given him an answer. "Man, I had some good times there. Hey, if anyone gives you any trouble, just give me their names and I'll sort them out for you."

Jack tensed a little. That was a problem; he was thin and his features were fine to the point of being a little feminine. He had always been the target of the odd comment here and there in the past, but this was a different school and he was the 'new kid'. He was going to get slaughtered. Something that Bobby had clearly thought of, judging from his offer.

"Hey," Bobby said, noticing his look. "You'll be fine. You're a Mercer now; no one will fuck with you."

Jack hummed noncommittally, wishing for Bobby to be right as they walked into the kitchen and Bobby pushed him towards one of the chairs with the instruction to 'eat'. Angel and Jerry glanced up and nodded to them at their entrance, but hastily resumed scoffing down Evelyn's famous pancakes. Evelyn herself was by the stove, frying the next batch. She looked around when they entered and gave Jack a smile.

"Hi, Jackie. Help yourself to pancakes."

Jack shook his head, not even contemplating food when his stomach was churning so fiercely.

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat, Jack," she said in her no-nonsense tone.

He picked up an apple from the fruit bowl to please her and bit into it before she could object.

"He's trying to keep his figure, Ma," Bobby grunted, head bowed over his plate.

Jack aimed a kick at him from under the table but missed.

"Whatever," he said instead.

Bobby glanced at him with a smirk.

"Aw, Jackie, is it your time of the month?"

Jack kicked out again, and this time caught Bobby square on the shin. His older brother cried out in pain before cursing him in earnest when Jack reflected his earlier smirk back at him.

"Language, Bobby," Evelyn reprimanded, laying out a fresh plate of pancakes. "Jack, do you have everything you need for your first day?"

"Yeah," he said, having checked the night before.

He was really not going to mess things up. After seeing his adopted mother's face once he had been kicked out of Linten High, he had sworn he was never going to see it again. He was going to make things work this time round, even if it killed him. Evelyn had been the best thing that had ever happened to him and he was damned if he was going to let her down again.

"Do you know where you have to go?" Evelyn asked.

That one he wasn't so sure about.

"The office," he said.

Some of his uncertainty must have bled into his tone as Jerry glanced at him.

"I'll take you, make sure you get settled in alright and you find the place," he offered.

Jack gave him a small smile of gratitude.

"I'll drive you guys," Bobby said, taking a swig of juice.

It seemed he wasn't the only one who wanted this to go well.

"Alright," Evelyn said, looking at the clock and untying the apron around her waist. "I have to go to work. I'll see you boys later, have fun."

She left the room, picked up her briefcase and walked out the door. Jack watched her go, suddenly feeling even more nervous now that she was gone.

"You'd better go find some shoes, get ready," Bobby said over the silence created by Evelyn's departure.

His younger brother nodded and went up to his room. The three remaining boys looked at each other.

"They're going to kill him," Bobby declared.

Jerry and Angel glared at him.

"Oh come on, he looks like a fucking lamb to the slaughter," Bobby pointed out.

Angel shook his head.

"You'll know he'll be fine when he gets there, he can do his emotionless, scary thing," Angel said, feeling the need to defend Jack from the inevitable truth.

"And failing that," Jerry continued. "He can beat the shit out of the lot of them, like that kid from Linten, the one he got expelled over."

Bobby shrugged, but knew Jack wasn't going to do that again. After visiting the guy in hospital (on Ma's orders), just him and the kid, he had seen how stricken Jack was by what he could do. He was actually really sorry about the bastard's broken nose, although from what Jack told him, he deserved a lot more than that. After that incident, Bobby doubted he was going to start another fight.

"Maybe you're right," Bobby relented. "But keep an eye on him, okay? If anything happens to him at school, I'm gonna blame you guys, and that won't be pretty."

"Don't worry about it," Jerry said unfazed. "Crackerjack's safe with us."

Bobby turned to look at Angel, who quickly nodded, obviously wary of his brother's wrath.

"Good," he said. "We'd better get going. Don't want to be late for school, now, do we ladies?"

With an eye roll from each brother that Bobby pretended not to notice, they got up and picked up their stuff from the hall just as Jack came down the stairs. He was now wearing some heavy-looking boots, a plain black bag over one shoulder and the leather jacket Bobby had grown out and given to him when he had moved in. It only seemed to emphasise his lean frame and pale skin, something that had always struck Bobby as odd, as it had only made him look tougher when he was Jack's age. Then again, he had never been as stick-thin or as pretty as his brother. His hair also looked a little messier, but Bobby assumed it was on purpose and didn't comment. Besides, it looked cute on him.

There had never been any doubt Jack was stunning, but it seemed even more obvious today.

Bobby hailed him with an exaggerated wolf-whistle.

"Got your sights on a guy already?"

Jack flipped him off calmly and walked past them all, out to Bobby's car.

"Still think he's gonna get killed?" Angel asked him quietly.

Bobby shot him an irritated glare. He wasn't sure why, but sending Jack off to a pack of hormonally-charged teenagers looking like a fucking model made him more than a little unsettled. He told himself he didn't care who Jack dated, boys and girls alike, before following the teenager out. Really, Jack was sixteen… and since when did he ever give a second-glance to a guy?

He got in the car and turned over the engine, glancing over at Jack who was sitting in the passenger seat, his feet propped up on the dashboard. Even if he was older, and Bobby wasn't as straight as he thought he was… with Jack's history, he would be surprised if Jack would ever want to be involved with a guy after everything he had been through.

Angel and Jerry piled into the back seat and Bobby pulled out of the drive, perhaps a bit too quickly as he thought everything over.

It took Jack months after moving in to feel comfortable around the other three teenagers and longer before he felt able to be alone with them. Even then he had been skittish and almost silent. Now, after almost two years living with them, he was pretty much fine. Bobby was not going to risk his progress just because he was noticing little things about Jack he had either not noticed or flat-out denied before. Like the way his hair fell into his striking eyes, or how kissable his lips looked, or his perfect figure, or-

Oh God, he was a pervert.

The car ride was quiet: with Jack thinking about the day to come, Bobby thinking about why the hell he was looking at his brother like that and Angel and Jerry not being able to keep a conversation going in the stiff atmosphere. Jack was playing with the condensation on the window, drawing little patterns on it before swiping them away with his sleeve and starting again. It was oddly relaxing when coupled with the city flashing by outside in the cold morning light. He hummed a soft tune as he worked; the prospect of school long forgotten.

Bobby glanced across at him from the driver's seat, but simply shrugged when Jack didn't pay him any attention. It wasn't like he was having a flashback or anything; he was just distracted. The kid was a bit of a dreamer really.

Bobby pulled into the school gates and Jack abruptly stopped humming, obviously not that distracted. The building was large, plain and made of concrete blackened by the city's pollution. There was a large banner on the wall in front of them with 'Westmore High' printed on it in bright colours. It was clearly meant to look welcoming, but it only seemed to emphasise how prison-like the building looked. Jack shivered a little despite his jacket: something just wasn't right about the place. Students swarmed around the outside of the school in an odd mix of colour and noise which left Jack feeling more than a little out of his depth. Regardless of his brother's foreboding, Bobby took a long breath.

"Ah, home sweet home," he said, parking untidily outside the school. "Kinda makes me want to go back."

They all made to step out of the car, but Bobby caught Jack's wrist and pulled him back onto his seat. They waited for Jerry and Angel to walk away, although Jerry did hang back on the sidewalk, obviously still meaning to show Jack in.

"Listen," Bobby said quietly, as if someone could overhear them. "I meant what I said about any trouble. I'm not having you sort shit out on your own, no matter what Angel and Jerry might tell you. You have a problem; you come to me, alright? You can't get expelled here; there aren't any other schools as good as this in Detroit, okay?"

Although he knew Bobby was just trying to look out for him, he felt a small spark of rebellious anger flicker into life in his chest.

"What makes you think I don't know that?" Jack asked acidly, really tired of being treated like an idiot.

Bobby stared at him a moment before leaning back in his chair with a grin.

"You're cute when you're angry," he said sardonically. At Jack's growl of irritation, he held his hands up, now laughing. "Alright, alright, I get it: you figure shit out for yourself, you're all grown up. Go on, get out, I'll see you at four."

Gaping at being dismissed so easily, it was a moment before Jack got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him. He looked around for Jerry in the mass of students and found him standing close-by, waiting for him to catch up.

"What was that about?" Jerry asked, referring to the talk between Jack and Bobby.

Jack shrugged and they started towards the entrance of the school.

"Bobby telling me not to get myself expelled," Jack summarised with a roll of his eyes.

"Helpful," Jerry commented.

Jack let out a smile, knowing he could count on Jerry to share most of his views, especially when it came to Bobby. He was lead up to the heavy metal and glass double doors before he got into the school. It seemed to be just as dull on the inside as it was on the outside, with plain grey linoleum, cream walls and steel lockers lining the hallways.

"I know it doesn't look like much," Jerry admitted, taking him to the office. "But it's gotten better in the last few years, new principal's really turned it round, you'll see."

Jack looked at the kids milling around the halls, taking books out of lockers or hanging around in groups, talking.

"I hope so," Jack murmured under his breath.

They finally arrived at the office and Jerry knocked on the door smartly. At the muffled 'come in', he opened the door and pushed Jack through it before closing the door again and walking off. More than a little annoyed at being shoved into some unfamiliar room and then ditched, Jack had half a mind to find Jerry again. Unfortunately, the secretary had already spotted him.

"Hello there, can I help?"

Realising now was not the time to get his brother back, Jack walked up to her desk hesitantly.

"Hi. I'm Jack Mercer, I'm meant to be starting today."

The secretary glanced down at an open book on her desk, before nodding and smiling.

"So you are. Mr Yates is waiting for you through there," she said, gesturing to a door to his left. At his uncomprehending look, she took pity on him, "the principal."

"Oh," Jack said a little inadequately. "Thanks."

He walked over to his left and opened the door to a much larger office, this one decorated in shades of brown, ranging from a deep burgundy to a light cappuccino-cream colour. It was a sharp contrast to the shabby hallways and Jack found himself liking the room, despite himself. At the centre of the office sat a large oak desk and behind it was the man Jack assumed to be Mr Yates.

He was younger than Jack had expected; probably only thirty at the most, with light blondish hair and surprisingly dark eyes. He seemed to be physically fit, to the point of being muscular and was the sort of guy he was sure a lot of the girls at this school drooled over. At his entrance, Mr Yates gave him a welcoming smile.

"You must be Jack, right?" he asked, standing up and offering his hand.

Jack took it with a nod, returning the smile with a little less enthusiasm. Mr Yates' casual gaze soon became a lot more intense as he looked Jack over and he looked away, uncomfortable. Jack shrugged off his apprehensions; probably being a principal made you a bit weird. This guy wasn't like the others: he had a job, was good-looking and seemed relatively sane.

He found himself frowning; why was he thinking about this so much today?

When he realised Mr Yates still hadn't released his hand, he quickly extracted himself from the grip and crossed his arms.

"Take a seat," Mr Yates offered, his smile undiminished.

Jack sat down in a deep armchair in front of the desk obediently, deciding that, as creepy as the man was, there was no real reason to refuse.

"So Jack, I hear there was a bit of trouble at your old school, Linten High."

He dropped his gaze to the desk, gripping his upper arms to prevent himself from fidgeting.

"I guess," he said softly.

"A fight with another student which ended when he was rushed to hospital…" Mr Yates read from a piece of paper on his desk.

"It was a mistake," Jack stated. "It won't happen again."

If that was this little talk was about, he was going to lose his patience pretty quickly.

"Naturally," Mr Yates said smoothly. "But just to let you know, I'll be watching you personally," Jack gave him an odd look, now feeling slightly unnerved. "Any other 'mistakes'," Mr Yates said. "And I will expel you without a second thought."

Knowing the man was serious, Jack nodded mutely.

"It won't happen again," Jack repeated.

"Good. It would be a shame to lose you so quickly."

Although he wasn't sure, he could have sworn the principal was flirting with him... But that was ridiculous as he _wasn't_ like those other men and that whole life was over.

"Alright," Mr Yates said, drawing out a thick brown envelop from his desk. "This is all you need to know about life at Westmore; schedule, map, code of conduct, everything you need. If you have any questions or problems make sure you just come and see me," Mr Yates said with an odd inflection to his voice and another smile. "I'm sure I could sort you out."

Jack stood up and took the folder from him before moving away quickly. He wasn't naïve: people didn't go to see their principals with their problems; they went to their tutors, or, more commonly, no one. Mr Yates noticed his look.

"Something wrong, Jack?"

The smirk in his tone showed Jack he was right about the odd feeling he was getting from the man and he could only shake his head in reply, now feeling a little threatened.

"As much as I enjoy your company, you'd better go to class. We wouldn't want you to get into trouble on your first day, would we?"

Not sparing another second, Jack bolted from the room. He escaped into the hall, ignoring the receptionist's alarmed look, feeling the need to be as far away from that man as possible.

He walked briskly down several corridors, keeping his gaze on the floor and not caring who he bashed into on the way. Was he just over-reacting? Maybe he was just reading too much into this because he was… well, a little more sensitive to those sorts to things.

It was only once the bell rang, signalling the start of first period, that he realised he was lost.

He watched the halls drain of kids around him and he stood in the centre, feeling out of place. Jack wandered aimlessly for a moment before he remembered to look in the envelope he had been given. Although his timetable did tell him which room his first class (Math) was in, and there was a map telling him it was on the ground floor, he didn't know where he was_ now_, so didn't know which corridors to take.

"Fuck," he muttered, glancing around for any clues.

"Lost, freshman?"

Jack glanced up to see another boy, a bit older than him, leaning against the lockers ahead of him. He was smoking, his brown eyes glowing from the embers. He seemed to be a rebellious, rock-star type, wearing a T-shirt from some concert and wristbands on either arm. He had longish, dark brown hair which was almost black and it flicked outwards around his face. Something about him reminded him vaguely of Bobby and he seemed harmless enough.

"Yeah," he admitted. "Know where Room 112 is?"

"Yeah."

The boy stubbed his cigarette out against one of the lockers nearby and pushed himself from the wall. He walked over, studying him with curiosity.

"Are you going to tell me?" Jack asked.

The boy shrugged one shoulder casually; his gaze bright and full of mirth. Jack met his look with a slight glare and the boy grinned, holding out his hand.

"Robin," he drawled.

He paused for a moment, seizing up the proffered hand before sighing and shaking it.

"Jack," he returned.

"How old are you?" Robin asked, tilting his head. "Fourteen? Fifteen?"

Now that was just plain insulting.

"Sixteen," he answered, a little pissed. "You?"

"Eighteen."

Jack nodded to himself.

"Are you going to tell me where my Math class is now?"

Robin laughed, the sound echoing in the halls. He slung an arm around Jack's shoulders, unknowingly echoing Bobby's actions from earlier, and pulled him down a hall. Although a little wary at physical contact after his encounter with the principal, he could tell Robin wasn't like that. His touch and manner were more brotherly than anything and he felt himself relaxing; Robin's cool attitude soothing his frayed nerves.

"You have two choices, Jack," Robin declared. "You can go to Math, be a model student and blah, blah, blah. Or, you can come with me to the basketball court out there," he said, gesturing out of a window to a court over the street, "and we can have some fun away from this place."

It was the first time the phrase 'have some fun' actually wasn't anything sexual to him. Jack found himself smiling.

"I want to," Jack said, in case Robin got offended, "but I can't. I'm not meant to do anything out of line; I got expelled from my last school."

Robin groaned, ruffling his hair.

"Expelled, huh? Sounds like you should know how to have a good time. Come on, it's only your first day, they always let you do some shit around here anyway."

Jack was tempted, but remembered Mr Yates' warning.

"I can't. The principal said-"

"Mr Yates?" Robin interrupted, his voice noticeably darker.

Jack nodded and Robin stopped in his tracks, spinning the other boy to face him.

"Listen to me right now," Robin said seriously. "You have to stay away from him, he's dangerous."

Jack gave him a glance at the extreme reaction; he knew the guy was a pervert, but he didn't seem like the type to act on it.

He was a principal.

He wouldn't be allowed to stay in his job if he was anything more than a bit unsettling… unless that wasn't what Robin was talking about or unless Mr Yates was very clever.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Robin sighed and then looked Jack over as if to reaffirm his resolve.

"I'm telling you this because you seem like a nice kid and I don't want to see you hurt, okay? Keep your distance from him. You're young, attractive and innocent; he's going to take advantage of you if he can. From that look, I can see you suspected something similar."

Jack shook his head, mainly out of denial.

"He can't actually do anything, can he?"

Robin's gaze was unwavering.

"If he can get away with it," Robin said, before pausing. "I'm just repeating something everyone in the school knows: stay away from Mr Yates."

_Everyone in the school…?_

"But my brothers go here, why wouldn't they tell me something like this?"

Robin did a double-take, looking at Jack in a new light.

"Fucking hell, you're Jack_ Mercer_, aren't you?" Robin asked, ecstatic. "I'm in Jerry's form. Man, he said you were coming in today."

Not finding this topic remotely important when faced with his brothers' possible betrayal, Jack nodded bleakly. Robin noticed his change in demeanour and winced.

"If they didn't tell you, I'm sure they just did it to protect you."

Jack frowned, considering this. Although his family obviously did care about him and treat him like the 'youngest', surely warning him of their principle would have been helpful? Jack thought back on Bobby's words, both at home and in the car; was it possible he meant Mr Yates, rather than the kids at school?

Had he been warning him of this?

"Yeah," Jack said, unconvinced.

"I know Jerry, he wouldn't do-"

"Let's ditch," Jack proclaimed abruptly. "Basketball is suddenly a lot more appealing."

Robin gave him a nervous look, shifting his weight.

"If it's gonna get you in trouble, maybe I should just take you to class," he said, obviously worried.

Jack shook his head.

"No, forget it," Jack dismissed. "Please? I _want _to go."

It took only a split second for Robin's doubts to vanish and he replaced the arm across Jack's shoulders, leading them to the exit.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thanks for all the support, it's been really encouraging.

**Chapter 2**

'Skipping school' with Robin was time well spent in Jack's opinion.

Although they had started off playing a game of casual basketball, they had soon left the court and were walking around the city with some alcohol Robin had 'found' in his bag. After half the bottle was gone, Jack was starting to feel the effects as his stride got a little more irregular. Robin, however, was fine.

"Lightweight," he muttered as Jack tripped.

He would have fallen if Robin hadn't grasped his arm, supporting him.

"Christ," Jack said, frowning, not meaning to get drunk. "What time is it?"

"Er… quarter to four," Robin said, glancing at his watch.

Jack looked at him sharply.

"What?!"

Robin looked back at his watch to check he was right, before nodding.

"Yep, quarter to four."

Panic rose in Jack's chest.

"Oh shit. Bobby's going to fucking kill me, he's meant to be picking me up at four."

Although Jack didn't exactly know where they were in relation to the school, they had been walking around for hours; they were bound to be ages away. Robin seemed to realise how serious the situation was as he glanced up and down the alley they were in, trying to think of the best route back to school.

"We can make it in a sprint," Robin said, apparently knowing where they were.

Jack grimaced, doubtful.

"Seeing as walking isn't exactly working for me right now," Jack pointed out, "I'm not sure if that's going to happen."

Robin shrugged, giving him another reckless grin.

"You're with me," he said. "Miracles happen with me around."

"You think so, do you?" Jack asked, incredulous, referring to their current situation.

Robin rolled his eyes, grasped Jack's wrist and then pulled him down the street at a run. Head-spinning, Jack did his best to keep up with Robin's pace.

"Think about it this way; every minute you waste here is a minute you could be getting to school to act as if you've been there the whole time."

Not even bothering to try and comprehend that, Jack focussed more on keeping his balance. After a few minutes of staggering behind the older boy, Jack was able to find his stride again and sprinted alongside Robin. People gave them odd looks as they ran up the main roads, grinning like maniacs, but Jack couldn't care less at that moment.

They made it to the gates in complete disarray as the bell rang. Jack hastily made his way around to the main entrance, standing by the drive as if he had just emerged from school.

"I'd better go," Robin said. "I don't want to be interrogated by your brothers."

Jack knew that was true; if Robin waited with him, Bobby would be down his throat in seconds, wanting to know who he was and what Jack was doing hanging out with him.

"Alright, I'll see you around," Jack said.

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll find each other," he said, smiling. "Just… erm… try and walk in straight lines, alright? And don't breathe near anyone for a while."

Jack blinked at him.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically.

Robin messed Jack's hair up before swaggering off, just as Bobby pulled up in front of him none too carefully. He immediately tried to act more sober, although he was finding it difficult to remember exactly what that was like.

"Get in, Jack."

Although Jack had been moving towards the car anyway, at Bobby's aggressive tone, he stopped and crossed his arms. He swayed slightly, still under the influence, but Bobby didn't seem to notice, leaning over to meet Jack's unimpressed gaze through the passenger window.

"I'm not fucking around, Jack. Get in the car or I'm going to throw your ass in the backseat."

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a threat?" he asked coldly.

Bobby rolled his eyes and opened his door, beginning to step out. Realising he didn't want the potentially humiliating scene that was about to follow, Jack relented and got into the passenger seat. As soon as he had closed the door behind him, Bobby peeled away from the curb, going well above any conceivable speed limit.

Knowing Bobby wasn't the best driver when pissed off; Jack grasped the edges of his seat and gave him a nervous glance.

"Bobby… you left Jerry and Angel behind."

Bobby stared out of the windshield, his jaw clenched.

"They can walk home, they're big boys now."

Deciding Bobby was best left alone, he stared out of the window. It was only when the surroundings became unfamiliar that Jack chanced talking again.

"Where are we going?"

There was no response. Bobby just seemed to act like Jack hadn't even spoken.

"Bobby?"

His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel, but he still didn't speak. Seeing his brother again, even in his alcohol-induced haze, Jack could remember that Bobby hadn't warned him about Mr Yates. Some of his worry dissolved into anger and he set his jaw in defiance.

"Have a good day at school?" Bobby snarled after a few more minutes of silence.

Jack knew better than to answer that question.

"C'mon Jackie," Bobby said, shifting gears with a bit more force than was necessary. "You were so chatty a minute ago. I want to hear about your day at school, like any brother would, right? It's a big day, any-"

"I ditched," he interrupted.

It seemed that was the trigger Bobby needed as he slammed his hand down on the steering wheel.

"I know you fucking ditched, you fairy! I got a call from your principal this morning saying you'd left school with some guy," he shouted. "'Some guy', Jack? You threw your new start away for what? Some make out session in an alley?"

Jack threw a glare at the side of his face.

"He's just a friend."

"Yeah, just a friend with benefits, I bet."

"What does it even matter to you, Bobby?" Jack cried, more than a little defensive about the direction of conversation after that morning. "You jealous or something?"

Bobby didn't want to admit how close Jack was to the truth.

"I'm just trying to understand," he said slowly, reining his anger in, "I mean, what the fuck were you thinking? You said to me this morning that you weren't going to mess this up."

Jack relaxed slightly now that he wasn't being yelled at, but couldn't say anything in reply. He couldn't tell Bobby about Mr Yates, because (despite Robin's warning) it could be nothing, and his brother would storm in, all guns blazing, and make things ten times worse… if he even believed him. Besides, telling Bobby meant admitting Mr Yates had scared him.

Even just thinking about the way that man had been looking at him made him feel ill and cheap and dirty, and-

"Stop the car," Jack said.

"Whatever, Jack," Bobby said, keeping his gaze fixed on the curve of the road. "I guess it was too much to think that maybe-"

"I mean it, Bobby. Stop the fucking car."

Bobby looked over at him, noticing how pale the teenager looked.

"Alright, alright, one second."

It seemed they had driven to the outskirts of the city, where there were woods dusted in snow, looking like pictures out of Christmas cards. Bobby stopped the car on the edge of the woods and Jack got out, shaking. He couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or his memories that had made him feel physically sick.

His breath came out in wisps in the frosty air and Jack walked away from the car, deeper into the woods, trying to calm down. The cold was refreshing and Jack unzipped his jacket, needing to feel something real and physical, before leaning against a tree, gazing up into the canopy of leaves above him. It wasn't long before Bobby had joined him, giving him a wary look.

"You okay?"

Jack nodded to him.

"Do you get car-sickness now or something?"

Jack scuffed his shoes in the snow and shook his head. Silence ensued and Bobby studied his shaken brother carefully.

"What's wrong then?"

Jack paused for a moment, worrying his lower lip between his teeth as he tried to figure out exactly what was bothering him about the whole ordeal.

"Bobby, I-" he started, before shaking his head.

His brother walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. Sensing something was really wrong here, Bobby's anger was left forgotten in the car.

"What is it, Jackie?"

Jack studied his face carefully, but at finding no hint of malice or ulterior motive, he took a deep breath.

"D-Do I just look like a whore or something?" he asked, trying and failing to sound casual.

If Bobby was expecting anything from his brother, that wasn't it. Standing in front of him with his pretty face, swollen, red lips and impossibly expressive eyes, he couldn't think of anything more stupid.

"Some kids at school giving you trouble?" Bobby asked, swearing to hunt down whoever it was.

"Just… answer the question, Bobby, please?" he said faintly.

Bobby gripped his shoulders and turned his brother to face him, looking him straight in the eye.

"You don't look anything like a whore, Jack," Bobby said. "All that shit… you did the best you could, okay? You can't freak anytime someone calls you a name, 'cause that's gonna happen a lot at school, it goes with the territory."

Jack wanted to tell his brother he wasn't that weak; that it had been more than that, but simply nodded, giving Bobby a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm just being stupid."

"Alright," Bobby said confidently, drawing his younger brother in for a hug

He paused for a second, swearing he could smell something sharp around Jack. He pulled back slightly, glancing down at his brother who was still resting his head against Bobby's shoulder.

"Jack… Have you been drinking?"

Jack glanced up at him with a slight, sheepish smile.

"A little?"

Bobby gaped at him for a moment, unsure whether to be awed or really, really angry. Jack's body pressed against him and his arms around his waist made him opt for the former.

"Well, you don't do things by halves, do you?"

Jack's smile turned into a grin: Robin's presence may make him forget about things, but Bobby's made him feel okay.

"Where's the fun in that?"

Bobby laughed softly, the sound rumbling in his chest.

"Are you going to go back tomorrow? The man who rang up seemed pretty concerned, sounded like a good guy."

Bobby frowned as Jack abruptly pulled away, looking at him as if he had just said something unforgivable.

"Hey," Bobby said, confused, and not wanting Jack to close up on him. "I know I've never met the guy, but he seemed alright. Looks like you've made a couple of new friends today."

Jack blinked at him, his expression unchanging. Didn't Bobby tell him he thought his 'friend' Robin and he were fooling around? Did he think Mr Yates and him were the same? He backed away slightly, looking at Bobby in a new light. Jack had been angry no one was considerate enough to tell him, but now he was left feeling strangely empty as Bobby didn't seem too bothered by the whole thing. Everything was just so confused at that moment; he could only gaze at Bobby helplessly, unable to believe what he had just heard.

Still, he'd been weak enough today and couldn't seem affected by something Bobby clearly thought was okay. He paused for a moment, running Bobby's words through his head.

"You've never met him?"

Bobby looked at him carefully.

"No, he joined after I left."

A small spark of hope lit in Jack's chest. Did that mean he didn't know?

"So what did he say to you?"

Bobby shrugged, jamming his hands in his pockets.

"I don't remember exactly," he said, perhaps a little frustrated by now. "Just that you weren't in school, he asked if I knew where you were and everything. Told me he'd seen you leave with some boy in a higher grade and said you seemed like a nice kid so he wasn't going to suspend you for this."

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. Bobby's assumptions were over the 'nice kid' comment, rather than the odd undertone he had picked up on from the man. As he clearly didn't know Mr Yates, Bobby was completely innocent in this affair. He immediately felt bad about giving him such an attitude earlier.

"I'm sorry I left," Jack said quietly.

Any annoyance Bobby was feeling vanished and he gave his brother a half-smile, beginning to walk with him back to the car. He deliberately chose not to notice that Jack was perhaps a little unsteady on his feet. Bobby couldn't say he hadn't done similar shit when he was in school, but having Jack following in his footsteps was making him even more protective of his younger brother. Bobby certainly wasn't squeaky clean and he definitely had clocked up a few regrets in his time; he wanted Jack to have it better than him.

He had sworn that when Jack had moved in.

"It's alright, just don't do it again."

Jack smiled, knowing Bobby probably saw that as good advice. He started the car again and drove away from the woods, heading home.

"Jerry and Angel are gonna kill us," Jack said, referring to the fact that they had left them to walk home in the snow.

"Yeah, well. They'll get over it," Bobby dismissed; now realising he had perhaps been a little melodramatic when picking Jack up. "How was your day, anyway?"

Jack grinned.

"Erm… Good, I guess. Better than school. How about you?"

Bobby hummed for a minute, mulling it over.

"Pretty dull without you guys around. I'm meant to be finding a job and all that, but I'm happy just mooching off Ma for a moment, waiting for my hockey career to lift off."

Jack nodded to himself, not commenting on Bobby's chosen path.

"Are you going to tell her?"

Bobby wasn't too sure if he was talking about his plans for his future or Jack's skipping school.

"Nah," he said casually, leaning back in his seat. "You've learnt your lesson."

"I meant about you just lazing around the house all day."

Figures.

Bobby rolled his eyes, knowing that if he wasn't driving he would have hit Jack upside his head.

"I'm not lazing. I'm fixing things, like that back door, that's sorted now," he said a little proudly. "You're welcome," he added at Jack's silence.

"Don't give me that. You only fixed it so that Evelyn doesn't bust you for sneaking in at four in the morning again."

Bobby watched the road, knowing Jack was the 'responsible' one (at the moment anyway). He helped Ma with the cooking, he cleaned up after himself, and he was a good student. Well, when he showed up, anyway.

"Okay, you have a point," he admitted, forgetting how clever Jack was. "You'll thank me when you're older."

"Yeah, right."

Bobby grinned and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Although Jack did go out quite a lot, even for a sixteen year old, he was careful to return at curfew, not wanting to worry anyone. Bobby, on the other hand, well… wasn't so considerate. There were a couple of minutes of silence as they neared their house.

"How come you're still calling Ma 'Evelyn'?"

Jack gave him a long look.

"My Mom… she wasn't a nice person, you know. I don't mean to seem distant," Jack said, sadly. "I just like Evelyn a lot more than my Mom, so I couldn't call them the same thing. Does that make sense?"

Bobby paused, parking the car in the driveway.

"Sure it does… but we're your real family, Jackie. That woman did not deserve to ever be even considered your Mom, get it?"

Jack nodded mutely and got out of the car. He walked up to the house with Bobby a few paces behind him. He noticed Evelyn's car wasn't in the driveway and assumed she wasn't home. He felt an odd mix of emotion at that realisation; after his tough day he wasn't sure if he needed a familiar presence, or if seeing her would make him feel terrible after putting the new start she had manufactured for him in danger.

"I'm going out tonight," Bobby said, unlocking the front door and pushing it open.

"Yeah?" Jack said, admittedly not that interested.

"Just a few friends."

Jack interpreted that to mean some guys Bobby had probably met in a bar and rolled his eyes.

"Have a good time."

Jack walked in the house and headed straight for his room, probably wanting some time on his own to play guitar or whatever. Bobby watched him go, wondering for the millionth time if he was okay. Hearing voices in the living room, he decided he had bigger things to think about and strode in, taking his jacket off and throwing it over the armchair. Angel and Jerry were watching some hockey match on the TV, shouting loudly at the screen. At his entrance, they both fell silent, probably at the look on his face.

"Hey man, what was with you leaving us at school?" Angel asked, glancing up at him.

"Never mind that, what the hell is wrong with you two?" Bobby asked, ignoring the question.

He shut the door behind him, conscious of Jack upstairs.

"You have any idea how fucking cold it is?" Jerry asked bitterly.

Bobby rolled his eyes, taking a seat opposite them.

"I don't care. If no one bothers to keep their promises today, then I'm sure as hell not."

Angel and Jerry exchanged looks.

"What are you talking about?"

"Jack," Bobby said. "Did you know he ditched today?"

Angel let out a great guffaw of laughter whereas Jerry just looked shocked.

"He ditched?" Angel repeated. "On his first day? That has to be a Mercer record."

"It's not funny, Angel," Jerry said softly. "Man, I looked for him at lunch, but I just figured he was with some people in his class."

"Well he wasn't. Fucking hell, see what happens when I'm not around? Christ knows what's gonna happen when I move out some day," Bobby exclaimed, shaking his head. "He didn't even last an hour, apparently. I reckon some kids got to him, or something, but he just left with some guy to spend the day drinking."

Angel let out a low whistle. Jerry just frowned.

"What guy?"

Bobby shrugged.

"An older guy, does it matter?"

It was Jerry's turned to shrug.

"Guess not. I don't get it; I got him to the office in the morning fine. Was it just in first period or something?"

Bobby looked at him curiously. That raised an interesting point. He had been called almost immediately after he had arrived home once more; meaning Jack must have left right at the beginning of first period. Did he really get into trouble that quickly? Surely that wasn't even possible?

"I suppose," he said, thinking. "It must have been."

Jerry shook his head in disbelief.

"Didn't you bother to ask him?" he asked.

Bobby paused, pursing his lips.

"I was perhaps a little angry."

Both Jerry and Angel groaned, filling in the blanks in that statement. It was clear he had just had a go at the kid rather than try to get to the root of the problem. Seeing that was riling the guy further, Jerry tried saying something.

"Not even Jack is that much of a trouble-maker. Who's this guy he left with? Maybe he… I dunno… forced him to leave."

"Jack said he was a friend."

Angel snorted.

"Yeah, because he's bound to tell you otherwise."

At Bobby's murderous glare, Jerry quickly intervened.

"You have to admit, you do tend to overreact to things like this, Bobby, especially when it comes to Jack."

Not liking what that said about how he felt about Jack, who was his brother, his glare didn't lessen.

"Whatever, I'm going out. Any shit like this happens again, I'm going to get violent."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Hey, sorry for the slow update. This has been sitting on my computer for weeks while I've debated whether or not to put it up and rewritten it like eight times lol. This chapter may seem like a bit of an odd development, but it is important to the future of the story, so it has been uploaded. Enjoy!

**Warnings: **On top of the old ones, there are mentions of past/present drug abuse in this chapter, so if this is a particularly sensitive topic for you, don't read, or just be cautious.

**Chapter 3**

The sound of pots and pans clattering around downstairs to a male's hysterical laughter woke Jack up in the early hours of the morning. Curious, he got out of bed and preceded down the hall, his sleep-dulled mind trying to figure out what was going on. Half way down the fight of stairs he realised he should have been a little less hasty in his decision to investigate as it was midwinter in Detroit and he had only worn boxers to bed. He glanced back up the stairs to his room, wondering if it was worth turning back and getting dressed.

A particularly loud metallic crash from the kitchen persuaded him to just forget about it and he crossed his arms to ward off the cold instead.

Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could see Bobby standing amongst a small mountain of assorted skillets and other cooking implements. He was doubled-over with laughter as he tried to resituate some pans back onto their hooks over the stove with little success.

Sighing, Jack walked over and helped him pick them up.

"Jackie!" Bobby called, catching sight of him and enveloping him in a hug.

With a pan in either hand, Jack felt more than a little stupid, not to mention uncomfortable with his older brother smothering him. He could smell beer and smoke on Bobby and rolled his eyes, knowing his brother was drunk.

"Hey, Bobby, you were out late."

Jack found it ironic that he spent all that time fixing the creaking door only to create a different racket in the kitchen. He saw Evelyn appear in the doorway, wearing her dressing gown and looking a little bleary-eyed from being disturbed from sleep by Bobby's noise. He nodded to show he could handle this one and she gave him a smile before disappearing upstairs again.

"It was a good party," Bobby said enthusiastically. "Wild."

Jack manoeuvred himself so he had an arm around Bobby's waist, prepared to lead him up to his room.

"There were these tiny, little red pills which made you feel like you were_ flying_," Bobby said, sweeping a hand through the air to indicate 'flying'.

The action made him stagger to one side, and Jack, unprepared, collapsed under his weight. They fell to the floor in a tangle of limbs and Jack shivered as his bare skin came into contact with the freezing cold linoleum of the kitchen floor. Once he regained his bearings, he pushed against Bobby's chest.

"Get off me, you're heavy."

Bobby chuckled, grinning against the curve of Jack's neck.

"Naw, don't be mean, Jackie."

Nevertheless, he did prop himself up on his elbows so he was only hovering over Jack now, rather than crushing him.

"You're really high, aren't you?" Jack asked quietly.

Bobby grimaced, noticing the edge in Jack's tone.

"A little?" he said with the same sheepish grin Jack had used earlier.

Jack pushed at Bobby again.

"Get off me. You have to go sleep this off; I'm not talking about this now."

Bobby rested his head on Jack's shoulder.

"Aw… but you're so pretty when you talk."

Jack's eyes widened, but told himself it was only the drugs talking. Nevertheless, he was suddenly aware of the suggestible position they were in, with Jack only wearing boxers and Bobby lying over him, between his legs.

"C'mon, Bobby, you seem tired, wouldn't you like to sleep?"

Bobby shook his head, his breath warm across Jack's chest.

"You're comfy. Can't we just sleep here?"

Jack gave him a slightly harder shove.

"I'm not sleeping on the kitchen floor. How about we go to your room?"

Bobby hummed deep in his throat, as if considering it. After a long pause, he nodded and rolled off of Jack who got up, pulling his brother with him. They made their unsteady way up the stairs, with Bobby practically a dead weight across Jack's shoulders.

It felt like an age before he finally slung Bobby onto the bed and turned to leave. His brother clearly had other ideas as he grabbed Jack's forearm.

"Stay?" he asked sweetly.

"No, Bobby," Jack whispered. "I have my own room."

"Please?" Bobby said, angling his head and giving him his puppy-dog eyes.

Alcohol always made him a little childish.

Jack hesitated before climbing under the covers with Bobby. His brother threw an arm around his waist and pulled him a bit closer.

"G'night, sweetheart," Bobby said softly.

Jack watched him for a moment in the moonlight streaming in from the windows before a loud snore told him Bobby was fast asleep. He shook his head a little in what could be irritation and settled down to doze off too, moving closer to the older boy.

--

Bobby groaned as he woke up, his head feeling as if it was gripped in a painfully tight vice. He spent a few moments absorbing the utter pain of his situation and feeling a bit sorry for himself before realising he wasn't alone, he was holding a slim body against his own, his arms around their waist. Whoever it was wasn't wearing a top and had really soft skin.

He'd clearly had a very good time last night.

He cracked open one eye, almost blinded by the meagre light in the room, as he glanced at his bed partner with his practiced morning-after smirk.

Bobby very nearly screamed when he saw he was holding Jack in his arms. He hadn't just slept with his sixteen-year-old brother had he?

He thought back to last night and sighed with relief (and perhaps a little disappointment) as he remembered coming in at three in the morning and have Jack help him up to his room, even if the memory was hazy. That incident was strictly G-rated, it seemed.

He glanced over at the younger boy pressed against him, noticing how delicate he looked in his sleep; a fact which was easily overlooked when he could give such attitude when awake. As if sensing his look, Jack stirred and blearily opened his eyes.

Bobby gazed on with a smile as Jack looked at him, obviously wondering how he had gotten there. He could actually tell when his brother remembered last night.

"Good morning," Bobby said, adding a purr to his tone, enjoying himself.

Jack rolled his eyes.

"What time is it?" he asked.

Bobby pushed himself up onto one elbow and glanced over Jack's shoulder to his digital alarm clock.

"Seven."

Jack flipped over onto his back and sat up, rubbing his eyes and getting out of bed.

"Where are you going, baby?"

Jack gave him a withering glare, burying his amusement at Bobby's antics under layers of ice.

"School," he answered in a deadpan.

He had almost reached the door before he fully remembered the details of last night. He slowly turned back to Bobby, who was looking pretty nervous.

"Drugs?" Jack asked quietly, not really expecting an answer.

Bobby rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think of a way to stop Jack from murdering him.

"W-Well, Jackie, the thing is-"

"I can't believe you," Jack interrupted. "After all of that shit with Angel you… you just… I mean, fuck, Bobby, what were you thinking?"

Jack turned away from him, more than angry, and ran a hand through his hair. After Angel had a hard time in giving up drugs when they were younger, they had made their own pact not to do any form of drugs while living under Evelyn's roof. Truthfully, no one except for Angel had stuck to it, but they were careful not to come home stoned or high. Well, all except for Bobby, apparently.

"Alright," Bobby said, sitting up. "I wasn't thinking. It was a mistake."

"Damn right it was a mistake! You know what would have happened if Angel had found you? It would have started everything off again, you get that, right? Hell, if Evelyn had found you she would have killed you."

Still finding it weird to hear Ma called 'Evelyn', it was a moment before Bobby had the wits to answer.

"What, so because our brother used to be an addict we all have to tread on eggshells?"

Jack whipped around to face him and for a moment Bobby was sure the kid was going to punch him.

"You fucking bastard," he hissed, his eyes narrowed.

Bobby had never seen that fiery temper directed at him before and realised that he had seriously overstepped the line at some point during this conversation.

"Look, you can't talk to me right now," he said, rubbing his eyes. "I have a headache like a jackhammer and soon I'm going to throw up. I'm saying a load of shit I don't mean, alright?"

Jack paused, crossed his arms, and gave Bobby a flat look.

"Well whose fault is that?" he sneered softly. When his brother tried to speak, he just shook his head and cut him off. "No, you know what? You're right. I'm being completely out of line. I mean, of course you'd choose some cheap high over your own brother, how stupid of me to think maybe you wouldn't be that goddamn selfish!"

Knowing Ma was sleeping next door; Bobby shushed him and also stood up, even if his headache did worsen.

"Jack, it's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Jack repeated shrilly.

Not seeing any other option, Bobby crossed the room and placed his hand over Jack's mouth, pushing him into the door so that he couldn't struggle too much. Unfortunately, struggling 'not too much' from Jack left Bobby with a black eye.

Jack knew Bobby had done drugs before, _Jack_ had done drugs before. Hell, he had even done drugs _with Bobby_ before, but this was completely different. They had always been careful and had known exactly what they were taking and how much was safe to have. 'Small red pills' could really fuck you up. They could have been anything, and, despite Jack not being easily shook up by things like this, he recognised this was serious. He had to admit a good portion of his anger was not on Angel's behalf, but due to his own fear of losing his brother.

"Stop it, Jack. Just listen," he pleaded. Jack stopped trying to hit him, but did aim a ferocious glare at his face. "It was a one time thing, I was just curious."

Jack finally prised Bobby's hand away from his face.

"You didn't know what they were! They could have killed you."

Bobby drew a hand down his face, knowing Jack was right, but on three hours of sleep and with a hangover, he wasn't in the best state to listen.

"I know, I'm sorry. I won't do it again, okay?"

Jack gave him a shrewd look, as if trying to make sure he was telling the truth.

"Okay," he said softly. "I'm going to get ready. Are you driving us again?"

"You staying there the whole day?" Bobby countered.

Jack's look told him he wasn't that forgiven yet and Bobby hastily nodded that he was.

"Hey, are we… er… alright now?"

The slamming of his bedroom door, sending a jolt of pain through his skull, was his only answer.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Enjoy!

**Chapter 4**

The next few days at school were surprisingly good for Jack.

Now that he had Robin as a guide and a few days' experience, he was able to navigate the halls without much of a problem. Also, although he had discovered early on that most of his year mates were either immature hooligans or wannabe gang-members, he had given them a wide berth and hadn't been bothered by them. Instead, he chose to spend his time with Robin, who seemed perpetually lonely. Certainly, Jack had never seen him with anyone in his own year. His classes seemed fine so far, almost bordering on being too easy and so he often found his mind wandering in lessons.

Like at that current moment.

He was watching the teacher, sure, but he wasn't listening to a word she said. Jack didn't even know what unit they were studying, let alone whatever vitally important concept she was gesticulating about. Instead, he was thinking about Bobby, who seemed to be hardly ever at home anymore. Although Jack trusted him to stick to his word and not do anymore drugs, he was beginning to miss his brother and had taken to lying awake at night until he heard the soft click of the back door as Bobby returned home.

Even when he wasn't out, Bobby was distant. It seemed he was purposefully avoiding Jack, although he couldn't fathom the reason behind the sudden change, and had avoided being alone with him at all costs. That wasn't the limit of Bobby's odd behaviour, though. When he thought Jack wasn't looking, he would stare at him for inordinate amounts of time before glancing away, shaking his head and muttering to himself.

It was driving Jack up the wall, but he didn't have the motivation to confront Bobby about it as he didn't want to piss the older boy off. He figured Bobby was bitter about the black eye he had given him in their argument over drugs and had decided to let him get over it in his own time.

The lunch bell rang and he quickly packed up his things, heading out of Biology. He knew Robin had just finished gym, as the older boy had been complaining about athletics between puffs on his cigarette at break, so he had time to kill as Robin would have to change. He went to his locker and entered the combination with one hand while drawing the books he didn't need out of his bag with the other. When he looked inside the locker, books selected, he dropped them promptly onto the floor.

Several heads turned his way and he quickly pulled the door of his locker closed as he picked his school books up. His head was spinning as he re-examined what he had found, placing his books inside with shaking hands.

Photographs.

Of him.

Not just any photos of him, oh no. These were photos of him when he was a couple of years younger; pressed against alley walls, or on his knees, or standing outside motel rooms being handed money. There were loads of them, and, as Jack sifted through, they seemed to become more and more pornographic. So much so that he almost blushed… and he was in them.

Who the hell had taken these?

They must have spanned months, years… someone had been following that whole time… watching him… taking pictures. Jack shuddered, unsettled. His fingers uncovered a sheet of paper in amongst the masses of photographs. Just a single A5 sheet. He drew it out, and the single word scrawled across it in block capitals made him feel worse than the endless pictures:

WHORE

"Hey, Jack."

Jack almost jumped a foot in the air and looked quickly to his right to find Robin leaning against the lockers, tousled and still slightly red from Gym. Luckily, the combination of his locker door and the angle his body was shielding Robin's gaze from the pictures, but he still shut it a bit too hastily to seem casual.

"Hi, how was Gym?" he asked, hoping to stop Robin's curious gaze.

It seemed to work as Robin's features dropped into a grimace.

"Awful. I don't know why people want to run just for the sake of seeing how fast they can do it."

Jack rolled his eyes, knowing that explaining the benefits of athletics to Robin patiently at break had had no effect on his views whatsoever.

"You alright?" Robin asked. "You seemed a bit like you'd seen a ghost a minute ago."

Jack nodded, dismissing Robin's worries easily.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about something, it's not important."

Robin shrugged, accepting nothing was off easily.

"You want to go somewhere?" Robin asked,

He guessed that meant 'Do you want to go to the steps so I can smoke?' and Jack agreed with an exasperated smile.

"You know, if you wanted to be better at athletics, you could stop smoking," Jack said rather pointedly as they set off.

Robin shrugged.

"Good thing I don't want to be better at athletics, then. I'd be a nightmare on nicotine-withdrawal."

Robin led him outside to the small flight of stone steps at the back of the school where he could light up without setting off a fire alarm. It meant disabling a fire exit to get out, but Jack assumed that he was allowed a bit of deviance as he hadn't skipped school since his first day.

Robin flopped onto the steps, pulling out a lighter and a squashed packet of cigarettes from the fashionable blazer he was wearing. Jack pulled himself up onto the ice-cold railing running along the steps and let his legs swing casually to and fro. Robin offered him the packet, more out of politeness than actually thinking he would accept. As predicted, Jack shook his head and looked out over downtown Detroit, thinking.

Somebody in the school knew about him.

The more he thought about it, the more sinister the thing was. Usually information like that came with a blackmail demand, but there had been nothing of the sort. It was almost like the person only wanted to freak him out, although as Jack was a virtual stranger in the school, he couldn't think of anyone who would want to do that.

Well… that wasn't strictly true, but Mr Yates couldn't possibly have access to this sort of information.

He knew that he was perhaps being a little unfair to Mr Yates, as despite Robin's warning and his initial bad impression of the man, he hadn't done anything since and Bobby liked him well enough. There was a big leap between thinking a guy was a bit pervy to thinking he had placed pictures taken of you turning tricks in your locker.

Feeling disturbed, he glanced over to his friend who was staring up at the sky, a slight smile on his face.

"How come you don't like people in your year?" Jack asked, needing a distraction from his unnerving thoughts.

Robin quirked an eyebrow at him.

"You haven't talked to your brothers about me, have you?" he asked, amused.

Jack shook his head, now even more curious.

"No," he said before pausing. "Should I?"

Robin shrugged, letting out a lungful of smoke.

"If you do, you'll find it much more difficult to hang out with me," he said honestly.

"How come?"

Robin glanced at him furtively as if deciding whether it was worth telling Jack or not. After a few moments of silence, he seemed to pass whatever test Robin was putting him through.

"I'm not very popular around here," he said a little wryly. "There were some rumours a couple of years ago that I… erm… slept with this girl… a fourteen year old… someone's younger sister here."

Jack gaped at him.

"Is that true?"

Robin sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

"Apparently," he said, sounding bitter. "It wasn't what she told me at the time, though, obviously."

Robin's tone convinced Jack he was telling the truth and he shot him a sympathetic look.

"Bad luck," he said quietly.

Robin looked up at him in surprise.

"You know, you're the first person to believe me," he said with raised eyebrows.

Jack shrugged that off.

"People around here are idiots," he said viciously. "I know that and I've only been here a week or so."

Robin leant back so his elbows rested a couple of steps up from where he was sitting, now relaxed that Jack hadn't rejected him like everyone else.

"Speaking of which, how come you don't hang out with your year?"

Jack grinned and hopped off the railing to lie back next to him, following the passing clouds overhead with his eyes.

"I've already told you."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Wow this is getting pretty intense now, huh? Thanks again for all the support, I hope you like this chapter.

**Chapter 5**

Jack watched the flames devour the photographs, ink bubbling and sliding off paper which was curling and turning brittle. The fire itself didn't start easily, not when the ground was frozen solid with ice and every piece of wood in Detroit seemed to be damp with snow. In the end, Jack had fetched the trashcan from his room and dumped the photographs inside with a bunch of newspaper. He would be damned if the photographs didn't burn. They had already unsettled him; they were not having this victory.

Getting them home was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of his life. He had gone to his locker at the end of school and had covertly slipped them into his bag, glancing up and down the corridor every few seconds in case anyone was watching him. After all, you'd only plant something like that in someone's locker if you wanted to see their reaction, he reasoned.

His paranoia made him a good ten minutes late leaving school, _fifteen_ minutes late when he finally reached the car where Bobby, Jerry and Angel were all waiting for him.

They, of course, were less than pleased with him for holding them all up, but Jack just didn't give a damn. Without Robin as a distraction, without _anything_ as a distraction, all he could think about was how serious this was. This stuff was excellent blackmail material and he got the feeling this wasn't the end of it. He had been silent on the way home, completely unresponsive to his brothers griping about him being late or discussing Angel's on-again-off-again girlfriend Sofi. Instead, he had focussed on keeping a death grip on his bag, terrified anyone would take it off him and look through it.

Only Bobby and Evelyn really knew the full extent of his past, Angel and Jerry had just been given the 'make-sure-not-to-hold-him-down-and-give-him-space' lecture. Jack would die if they found out like this… at seeing those pictures. He wouldn't be too thrilled if Bobby or Evelyn saw them either, for that matter.

But that psychosis was so half an hour ago.

He didn't have to worry anymore, the photographs were burning, no one would see them. Jack stoked the fire with a stick he'd picked up searching for wood, uncaring about the shower of sparks that ensued. The pictures were going up in flame pretty quickly, soon there would just be a few embers left, then it would be all over…

Right?

"What the fuck is that smell?"

Jack glanced up to see Bobby coming out of the back door, pulling his jacket on as he went. He glanced down at the trashcan, realising that the acrid scent of burning photograph paper must have reached the house by now. Still, although he was a little apologetic, at least Bobby was apparently going to speak to him again.

"Oh Jack, you _idiot_, you don't burn photographs," Bobby snapped, glancing into the trash.

For a split-second, Jack panicked, before realising there were a few glossy corners of photos that hadn't turned to ash yet. He poked the stack of ashes once more and soon they were burning too. At his lack of vocal response, Bobby just kept on talking.

"Ma made me come check it out because the fumes were making her light-headed and shit."

Immediately feeling guilty, Jack checked all that remained was a bunch of ashes before scooping up some snow in his bare hands and dumping it on the flames.

"You damned… urgh… Just stop it," Bobby objected when Jack bent down again. "Don't do that, you're not wearing gloves or anything. I'll do it."

With a couple more handfuls of snow, the trash can just contained a small pile of sodden, burnt paper. Jack wiped his hands on his jeans, feeling the cold now his only real source of heat was gone.

"So what was so important you had to burn it?" Bobby asked, clapping his hands together to get rid of excess powdery snow. "Someone catch you on a bad hair day or something?"

Jack crossed his arms, not amused.

"You gonna talk sometime today?" Bobby asked, his tone serious and a little frustrated. "It's like speaking to a fucking corpse."

Jack wanted to make some sarcastic comment, but realised it was much more defiant to simply shrug.

"Smartass," Bobby grumbled.

At noticing his little brother was shivering, quite violently at that, Bobby wasn't as pissed off as he should have been.

"C'mon, tea's almost ready, let's go in."

Jack gave one last glance at the remains of his photographs, before nodding and walking back to the house with Bobby.

"So you're not mad at me anymore?" Jack ventured as they stepped inside the kitchen.

Bobby smirked.

"Hallelujah, you're talking to me."

"I could say the same thing."

Bobby gave him a look as he stamped snow from his boots, but Jack couldn't tell what he was thinking. He settled for glancing around the kitchen until he got an answer, his eyes lingering on the oven and the pots on the stove, suddenly realising how hungry he was.

"I wasn't mad at you; I just needed a bit of time to myself."

"Liar," Jack accused, but there was no real heat behind his words.

He was just too tired to fight. Bobby seemed to notice too, ducking his head so he could meet Jack's lowered gaze.

"Seriously, man, what were you burning? You've been blanking everyone since you got home, even Ma, so I know something's wrong."

Jack hesitated, not sure how to answer. He knew he would feel better if he could share his latest ordeal with someone, but it would also make it even more terrifyingly real. Besides, Bobby wouldn't be very happy that someone might be planning to threaten his younger brother, and Jack didn't want him to get even more protective.

"You promise not to flip out?" Jack asked.

"Fucking hell, everyone acts as if I'm so damn irrational. Yes, I promise."

Jack rolled his eyes: of course everyone else was at fault, not Bobby himself. He carefully examined the older boy's eyes, his alert expression making Jack a little worried.

"Forget about it."

Jack made to turn and hopefully find the others, but was stopped by Bobby catching his arm.

"Hey, don't-"

He was cut off by Jack ripping out of his grip and backing away.

Bobby stared at him in astonishment: Jack hadn't been that skittish for ages. He was acting as he had in the first few months after arriving at the Mercer's, back when he couldn't stand to be touched. It was more than a little worrying.

"I- I'm sorry," Jack said, apparently as surprised by his reaction as Bobby was.

"It's alright," Bobby said slowly, not sure whether to make a thing of it or not. "Just tell me what's wrong."

For a long moment Jack didn't reply, simply staring at the arm Bobby had gripped as if it didn't really belong to him.

"Things don't end, do they?" he asked. "They change but they don't end."

Surprised by the cryptic question that made absolutely no sense to him, Bobby floundered for an answer. Normally he would say whatever he thought Jack wanted to hear when he seemed down, but he didn't know whether agreeing or disagreeing with him was what he wanted. He was terrible at this stuff; the other Mercer boys were too: Jack was the sensitive-musician-type, not them.

"Sometimes they do," Bobby said, safely taking the middle ground and feeling like a coward.

When Jack simply frowned a little but didn't really seem to hear him, Bobby spoke up again.

"Don't do this to yourself, Jackie, don't shut me out. Just talk to me, or…. or I could get Ma if you like."

Bobby wasn't sure when an easy question about what Jack was burning in the yard had suddenly become so serious, but the kid's demeanour, the way he had flinched when Bobby had touched him, it was all a little disconcerting. To be honest, he had considered talking to Evelyn after Jack's episode in the woods, but had decided against it as that would probably mean telling her Jack had cut class.

Maybe that was a mistake.

And after that he had been avoiding Jack, scared he would jump the kid or something similar, when apparently something was happening with him. Something which was now making him regress. Was Bobby's avoidance the reason he wouldn't open up now?

If so, he'd really fucked this up.

"I'm fine," Jack murmured, more to himself than his brother. "You don't need to get her."

Bobby nodded, wondering if Jack had made the right choice. Ma would be able to handle this a lot better.

"Alright then, just tell me what you set fire to."

Jack rubbed his forehead, as if that might get rid of the images flashing through his mind. Somehow watching the photographs burn only cemented them in his memory.

He cursed his decision to light them in his backyard; of course that was going to provoke questions.

"Photographs."

Bobby had to bite his tongue to prevent a 'no shit' slipping past his lips.

"What photographs?"

Jack was saved from answering by Evelyn walking into the kitchen. She started at seeing them there.

"Oh, hello, boys. Am I intruding?"

Jack shook his head quickly and practically ran out of the room, obviously seeking out Jerry and Angel to prevent Bobby asking anymore questions. Evelyn gave Bobby a questioning look.

"I don't know, Ma," he sighed, running a hand through his gelled-back hair. "You need any help with this?"

He gestured in the general direction of the stove and Evelyn smiled; she knew better than to trust Bobby with anything more complex than salad.

"You can set the table."

Bobby was less than thrilled by that prospect, but sighed and grabbed a handful of cutlery from the draw anyway. It wasn't like he had anything better to do now that Jack was basically hiding from him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The lone figure crossing the parking lot, heading for his older brother's beat-up old car, attracted two stares through the window of the principal's office. The one closest to the window was taller, older, stronger; while the other was glancing over the first man's shoulder, frowning faintly.

"I've changed my mind."

The man turned from the window to survey the other, not smiling, no trace of humanity on his face.

"Is that so?" he asked, amusement dripping from his words.

"Yes."

"Don't tell me you've grown a conscience?"

The other man glanced at the door, wondering if maybe this encounter was a bad idea, if he should turn and leave before he made everything worse.

"He's too good for this," he forced himself to say.

"You know nothing about him."

"I know enough. More than enough. I mean it; leave Jack alone, I'm not letting you follow through with this."

The man turned back to the window, watching the teenager as he got into the car, an unhealthy spark of interest in his eyes.

"Luckily for me, you've already served your purpose, I don't need you anymore."

"B-but, you said-"

"I don't need you anymore," he repeated.

"Fine, I'll just have to stop you continuing some other way then."

"You have no control over what I do, none at all."

"I've stopped you before," the other said, now turning for the door.

"And look where it's gotten you."

"I don't give a damn what you do to me. You're not doing anything to Jack."

The man smirked at the glass in front of him.

"And just what do you think you can try that you haven't already tried before?"

"I can still tell him your little game plan, he could easily think of a way out of it. In fact, he doesn't even have to do that, if he just told that brother of his, he'd shoot you on the spot."

"You won't tell though, will you? Telling him means confessing your part so far, he'd never forgive you. Besides, just in case you do decide to be a martyr, you're too late. It's only a matter of time. I'll get to him before you even have a chance."

"We'll see," the younger man said, before stalking out of the office.

-

"Hey, fairy," Bobby said, turning as Jack slipped into the passenger seat. "You're out early."

Jack glanced at the clock on the dash and shrugged. The only reason he wasn't late was because Robin hadn't bothered to meet him after his last lesson. It meant he had left the school on time, if feeling a little dejected. He wondered why Robin hadn't shown up, only really paying attention to his brother again when the mood in the car shifted and Bobby turned a little more fully to him.

"Listen, about yesterday," he started. "I get you don't want to talk about it, but if it's something serious you're going to have to tell someone at some point. I just want you to know that if you ever do, I'll-"

He was interrupted by the back doors opening and Jerry and Angel getting in. Bobby hit the steering wheel, frustrated, knowing that at this rate he was never going to be able to press Jack for details.

Jerry ruffled Jack's hair from behind, ignoring the glare he received in return.

"How're things going, Jack?"

"Pretty good," he answered. "You?"

Bobby doubted anything was 'pretty good' with his younger brother, not after he had looked so defeated the other day, but he obviously couldn't say anything. Instead he put the car in gear and set off home.

"Nice," Jerry said with a grin. "I'm… er… staying at Camille's tonight."

Jack smiled, shaking his head.

"Again?" Bobby asked, amused. "Soon you're gonna end up living with that chick. You know that, right? Then she'll be walking down the aisle, already pregnant with little Jerry-junior, and then-"

"Shut up, Bobby," Jerry growled over all the laughter in the car. "You don't know a damned thing."

Once the hilarity died down and Jerry was done insisting that was never going to happen, Angel spoke up, looking at Jack through the rear-view mirror.

"Hey, I hear you've been hanging around with Turner."

Jack looked over; curious at Angel's serious tone, but it was Bobby who whipped around to face Angel, startled.

"For Christ's sake, Bobby, watch the fucking road," Jerry yelled from the backseat.

Recovering quickly, Bobby returned his gaze to the asphalt, but he was still visibly shaken.

"Yeah, when you can drive you can talk," he muttered to Jerry. "What were you saying, Ange?"

"Jack," he answered, sounding a little confused at Bobby's reaction. "He's been hanging around with this kid at school, a guy called Turner."

Jack seemed similarly bemused, especially as the colour seemed to have drained from Bobby's face.

"Turner?" Jack repeated, the name unfamiliar.

"Yeah, I'd heard that too," Jerry spoke up. "Robin Turner, he's in my class."

Jack blinked, a little surprised that he hadn't recognised his only friend's surname.

"That true, Jackie?" Bobby asked quietly, not looking at him.

Jack looked around all three of his brothers, not sure why this was being made into such a big deal. He knew Robin wasn't popular, but didn't realise he was _hated_.

Then he remembered his friend's words about talking to his brothers, about how Robin thought it would turn Jack against him.

Well, that wasn't about to happen.

"Yeah," he answered defiantly. "So what?"

"You mean besides the fact he's a pervert?" Angel said incredulously.

"He's not," Jack defended. "He-"

"And a drug dealer," his brother continued.

Jack shut up. He certainly hadn't heard that before, but with all the rumours circulating about Robin, he was convinced it was just a lie.

"I doubt that."

"I don't." Bobby muttered, too quietly for the two in the backseat to hear.

Jack glanced at him, astounded, wondering how Bobby would even know as he didn't even go to his high school. The only way he would know would be if he-

Oh.

No way.

"Robin wouldn't do that," Jack said, sounding a couple of years younger with that simple statement.

"You're gonna believe him over your own brothers?" Bobby snapped.

He was surprised by the fire in Bobby's voice and so quickly fell silent, staring at the landscape that flashed past his window.

Robin knew Bobby was Jack's brother. Going to Westmore with Angel and Jerry probably meant he knew about Angel's drug problems too. Why would he sell to a Mercer? Jack had thought they were friends.

"Is this the kid you skipped school with too?" Jerry asked, having remained quiet through the earlier exchange.

Jack didn't even bother answering.

"Yeah, just drinking my ass," Bobby snarled, taking his lack of an answer as an admission. "I knew you were high."

Jack gaped at him.

"What the…? No, I _wasn't_ high. I wouldn't cut class to do drugs and he wouldn't sell to a sixteen year old."

"Yeah, because age matters so much to him," Angel snorted.

Jack felt Angel's hard stare on the back of his head and knew he had to convince the other boy he hadn't taken anything. Angel wouldn't be pleased if he thought Jack had broken one of their family rules.

"He didn't know that girl was fourteen," Jack argued, rightfully angry.

He felt his hands shaking by his sides and crossed his arms to hide it from his brothers. He hated confrontations, especially between his family members. It just made him feel so defenceless somehow, reminding him of all those foster parents who shouted at him, or argued with each other.

"Why are you being so loyal to him?" Bobby asked, aggravated. "He's a lowlife."

If Jack was honest with himself, he just didn't know. If Robin had deliberately sold to Bobby, being fully aware of everything, he doubted he could forgive him. However, he didn't know that was the case, and, more importantly, he wanted to believe there was some misunderstanding. He needed to talk to Robin, that was for sure. But, until then, Robin was still his only real friend at school and he was annoyed his brothers were being so judgemental towards him.

"He's not a lowlife," Jack contradicted. "Just because you bought from him, it doesn't mean you know everything about him!"

Silence resonated in the car as Angel glared at Bobby, Bobby glared at Jack, and Jack bit his lip, cringing, knowing he should have kept quiet.

"You what?" Angel asked dangerously, his gaze flicking between them.

Bobby ignored him and instead turned to Jack.

"You're not seeing this kid again," he said firmly.

Bobby obviously wanted to keep the conversation well away from his drug use.

"Whatever," Jack dismissed, having absolutely no intention of following through with that.

Bobby seemed to know too, judging from the sudden tension in his jaw.

Suddenly, it irritated Jack.

"You're such a damn hypocrite," Jack said under his breath, turning back to the window.

"What was that?"

"You're having a go at me for not being loyal to you guys… what do you think you've been doing lately?"

Bobby didn't answer immediately, stoically refusing to meet Angel's coldly furious gaze.

"I've been dealing with your shit, that's what I've been doing Jack. You get kicked out of your old school, do your best to get kicked out of your new school and now you seem to be going off the rails for no good reason! I talk to you and it's like talking to a fucking wall for all the response I get. I'm sorry if I need a break from it," he shouted. He took a deep breath before continuing in a more measured tone. "Besides, it was a stupid pact anyway, none of you fuckers stuck to it either."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the car, the air of an argument gone bad hanging over all of them. Both Bobby and Jack felt they had betrayed the other in almost unbearable ways but neither was ready to apologise.

No one spoke for the whole ride home.

**A/N: **Ooh, things really don't seem to be getting any better, do they? And Robin: good or evil? The plot thickens, me thinks… or at least heats up a bit.

I know that the relationships in this are developing quite slowly compared to other fanfics, but I want this to seem as realistic as possible and it is timed very specifically in my mind, so don't worry about it, it won't be long ;).

Thanks once again to my lovely reviewers, readers and fav-ers, this chapter is dedicated to you all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Jack pushed open the disabled fire escape, looking over the steps Robin usually smoked on, but seeing no hint of the boy in question there. He cursed under his breath, barely resisting the urge to punch the wall next to him in frustration. He had been searching all over the school for Robin for the past half an hour, and had just run out of places to look.

That was rare in itself, as they usually managed to find each other between classes, and Jack assumed Robin was doing his best to avoid him.

It was working.

All he really wanted to do was ask if Robin really had sold his brother drugs or not. If it was true he had no idea how he would react, but had convinced himself that Bobby was somehow mistaken. He trusted Robin. This was obviously some sort of misunderstanding.

Nevertheless, this 'misunderstanding' was tearing the Mercer family apart. Jack and Angel had both retreated into their respective rooms after the argument while Bobby sulked downstairs, watching hockey and nursing the same beer all night long. Jerry had quickly tired of shuttling between each of his ill-tempered brothers and had stayed with Camille.

Jack just wanted it to be sorted out so things could go back to normal.

However, he wouldn't find out the truth to settle anything if he couldn't actually track Robin down. Sighing in defeat, Jack moved back into the hall again, only to collide with the very person he was searching for.

"Robin," Jack greeted.

Robin gave him a sort of reluctant smile. He knew this was it; his only real chance to tell Jack what was going on, what was at risk. He could only hope the kid didn't hate him too much for this.

"Alright, Jack?"

Jack crossed his arms, cutting straight to the chase.

"Did you sell to Bobby?"

Robin's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"I, um, really don't think it's important. I need to tell-"

"It is important," Jack said resolutely, unwavering.

"Well, yeah, it is, but-"

"Just tell me, Robin."

Robin groaned in frustration.

"Fine, yes, I did, but-"

He was cut off by a fist slamming painfully into his jaw and him landing flat on his back. Robin could only look at his friend in surprise, amazed that such a punch came from such a fragile boy.

His lip was bleeding.

Robin swiped at the line of blood running from a corner of his mouth and grimaced. He looked back up to see Jack staring at him, horrified.

"O-Oh, God," he breathed.

"Mr Yates will do just fine, Jack."

Jack spun around to see his principal standing behind him, arms folded casually across his chest. Robin leapt to his feet, standing protectively at Jack's side.

"I-I…"

"I think you'd better meet me in my office, Jack."

Robin shook his head.

"No, I'm fine," Robin objected. "I don't care, I deserved it."

Mr Yates sent him a little victorious smile.

"We take discipline in this school very seriously, Robin. Jack, go ahead."

Jack walked past the principal and headed towards his office. Mr Yates sidled over to him, smirking.

"So… where was the part that you stopped me?"

Robin couldn't reply.

* * *

"Sit down, Jack," Mr Yates said, finding the teenager standing awkwardly by the door.

Jack did as he was told, still shaking from the earlier affair. What happened to 'not getting into trouble'? What happened to 'never doing that again'? Had he completely lost his mind?

This was completely his fault.

Mr Yates sat behind his desk smoothly and reached into the bottom drawer of his desk. He pulled out a pink form and laid it on the desk before starting to fill it out. After a few moments of Mr Yates writing, Jack interrupted.

"What's that?"

He tried to keep his tone compliant, but knew it had a hard edge to it. From the principal's raised eyebrow, he clearly noticed too.

"A form that will get you expelled," he said with a smile.

Jack froze and felt his heart plummet in his chest.

"You're expelling me?"

Mr Yates continued writing for a moment, before turning it to face Jack.

"Yes," he said simply, "when I sign this line, right here."

Jack glanced at that fated dotted line.

"B-But, it was… I didn't mean…" he stuttered, frowning.

Mr Yates smiled at him patiently, finding him adorable.

"People don't mean many things they do, Jack, and yet they are still punished for them. I told you what would happen if anything like this occurred again. I have worked hard to turn Westmore around; that involves tough decisions."

This was all happening so quickly.

This couldn't be real.

Mr Yates made to sign the paper.

"No, stop," Jack said, and Mr Yates' pen paused on the paper. "Look, I'll serve detention everyday, whatever. Just don't expel me… please."

Mr Yates gave him an unreadable look out of his dark eyes.

"I don't think detentions cover this," he said lowly.

Verging on desperation, Jack didn't consider the impact of his next words.

"Then anything you want, I don't care."

There was silence for a moment as Jack's words rang in the air between them. Finally, Mr Yates set down his pen and leant back on his chair. Jack held his breath, wondering if maybe he wasn't going to be expelled after all.

"Come over here," the principal said, gesturing around his desk.

His tentative relief soon turned into trepidation, but he did as he was told, walking around the desk to stand mere feet away from Mr Yates, his heart thudding in his chest. It seemed he wasn't going to be expelled, but what was going to happen to him instead? Mr Yates swivelled his office chair around until he was facing Jack, his eyes now glittering obsidian.

"Closer," he instructed, patting his thigh,

Jack looked to him, then his hand and then back to his face again. Surely he didn't mean for Jack to…

"Don't be shy now," Mr Yates said.

He swallowed thickly and backed up.

"What… What are you doing?" Jack asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

Mr Yates gave him a smile.

"I'm asking you politely to sit on my lap."

Unable to believe that was happening to him now, in _school_, he stood silent in shock for a moment.

"Or I could just finish filling in this form," he Mr Yates offered, turning back to his desk.

"Wait," Jack found himself saying before he had even finished making up his mind. "I-"

He had promised not to get expelled again. He could still hear Evelyn's quiet 'Well, we'll just have to find you a new school' and see the disappointment in her face. He remembered the sterile smell of the hospital he had put that guy in. Jack wasn't going to do that again. He _couldn't_ do that again.

With boots suddenly feeling like lead weights, he walked over to his principal and reluctantly sat across his lap. Maybe it wasn't so bad, he told himself, just indulging this odd desire of his teacher, and then it would be over. He repeated that over and over again even as he felt his skin crawl and a faint blush rise across his cheekbones. He could practically feel Mr Yates' smirk.

Arms circled him, one pulling his resisting body against his principal's chest by his waist and the other reaching up to play with his hair, forcing his head onto the man's shoulder. The stench of the man's cologne was overpowering and made him feel light-headed.

"That's better," Mr Yates practically purred. "Let's just have a little talk, shall we? No need to rush things."

_Rush things?_ Jack repeated in his mind, w_hat was he expecting?_

He looked at the desk in front of him, avoiding the intense gaze directed at his face.

"I read your file a couple of days ago," Mr Yates said into his hair, the sensation making Jack shiver. "You've had some bad luck haven't you?"

Jack froze, tense. Did that mean he knew?

The hand at his waist moved around to his back and then slowly downwards. Jack wanted to shrink away, but forced himself to stay still.

"All those men," Mr Yates continued. "What did those men have you do?"

Burning in shame, Jack made to move away, but the hand around his middle tightened, keeping him in place.

"There's no way my file says that," Jack said darkly.

Mr Yates chuckled, fingers still carding through his hair.

"I had some friends ask around about you," Mr Yates said casually, now toying with the waistband of his jeans. "Shame on you, Jackie, selling yourself on the streets."

He wasn't sure if it was the use of his nickname, used only by his family, or the fact that Mr Yates knew about his past, but he tried breaking out of the hold. The principal laughed and looped both arms around his waist, keeping him still.

"Did you let them fuck you?" Mr Yates asked. "Or did you just suck them off?"

Jack's struggles increased as he tried to block the words out.

"How did that feel, Jackie? Having them touch you?"

He finally got free and staggered away from the man, shaking his head as he felt everything come flooding back.

"Don't call me that," he said forcefully.

Mr Yates stood up as well and began advancing on him. The tension in the room suddenly skyrocketed and Jack made a break for the door. He was only a couple of feet away before Mr Yates caught his wrist and slammed him against the adjacent wall, pinning his other wrist before Jack had the chance to struggle. It was possibly that lightening-fast move that showed him how dangerous the man was, and Jack stood stock still, frightened.

"I really don't think you're in the position to make demands here, Jackie," Mr Yates said, leaning closer to him. "I think you owe me an apology. After all, I'm doing you a favour, not kicking you out."

Jack glanced up at Mr Yates, incensed.

"This isn't a favour, its blackmail."

His head snapped to the side with a powerful backhander, but the remaining grip on his wrist kept him from stumbling. He kept his face turned away for moment, feeling pain flare in his cheek as he caught his breath, wondering what he had gotten himself into. He heard Mr Yates sigh and a hand under his chin tilted his head to meet his principal's gaze.

"Don't make me angry, Jack."

He could feel himself trembling, honestly scared at what Mr Yates would do with further provocation. Jack tried to back further into the wall, his free hand pressed against it, jerking his face from his principal's hold.

"I can feel you shaking," Mr Yates said, staring at his hand holding the boy's thin wrist against the wall.

Jack half-heartedly pulled against the grip, needing to retain a semblance of pride. However, the tightening hold warned him not to try it and he stood placidly against the wall.

"I'm going to keep that form in my desk drawer, you hear that? I can file it at any time and have you expelled. I'll do it if you tell anyone about this or if you refuse me," Mr Yates said seriously, before stroking the cheek he had struck lightly with the back of his hand. "Well, if you refuse me too much. A bit will be fun, don't you think?"

Jack flinched away from Mr Yates, fixing his gaze on the floor.

"Oh, don't look like that," Mr Yates said, sounding almost caring. "It's nothing you're not used to, is it?"

"It was years ago," Jack said quietly.

The sound of the school bell was the sweetest sound he had ever heard: that was it, he was going home. He moved to get away, but Mr Yates' other hand cut off his path, blocking him in.

"One more thing," Mr Yates said.

He leant down and captured Jack's lips in a bruising kiss, demanding entrance. Jack hesitated, but remembering the man's earlier anger, he parted his lips. Closing his eyes, he counted to ten slowly, waiting for it to end. The man finally drew away and Jack gasped for breath before wrenching the door open and escaping out into the receptionist's office.

Jack didn't stop running until he was outside and breathing in crisp, cold air. He rubbed his arms encased in leather, feeling dirty and trying to wipe the memory of the man's touch from his skin.

"Hey, Jack!"

He saw Robin striding over from the other side of the campus and immediately walked in the other direction, not sure where he was going. The older boy just sighed and sprinted to catch up with him.

"Wait up," he tried again.

"Leave me the hell alone, Robin; I'm not in the mood."

Robin jogged a couple more steps to keep up with Jack's frenzied pace.

"I was trying to say earlier… I just… Could you talk to me?"

When Jack only kept walking with his head bowed, Robin grasped the sleeve of his leather jacket. Jack ripped himself away and turned, glaring.

"Don't you ever fucking touch me," he hissed.

Robin's eyes widened and quickly held his hands up.

"L-Look, I was trying to help, I'm sorry."

Jack was unmoved.

"I don't need your help! I… I don't want to hear this right now… I just…"

Jack couldn't finish his sentence and instead trailed off, raking a hand through his hair. He felt so jittery and terrified; he just wanted to escape somewhere else.

Anywhere else.

Robin seemed to fight with himself for a minute or so before stepping a bit closer to him.

"What did he do to you?"

Jack stared at him.

No way.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, don't say I didn't warn you… 

I'm hoping long chapter makes up for slow update?

Just a note to say that things will get much darker from here on out and not to worry, this is definitely a Jack/Bobby. This will become apparent very soon.

Hope you liked.


	8. Chapter 8

**Warnings: **Oh yes, there are more. Once you think I've covered all potentially sensitive aspects of human behaviour, I find new ones to write about. I know it must get tiresome to have these at the beginnings of several chapters, but I don't want anyone reading anything of mine and getting upset or triggered. So, on top of everything else (just to cover me there, not all warning-ed things are going to crop up in this chapter, that would be impressive), this chapter describes an act of (pretty mild) self-injury. Although, I suppose you could debate whether this is self-harm or not as he's not aware of doing it, but the fact he is... I don't know why I brought it up, but I know some people are very particular about what constitutes self-harm, so I thought I should mention the debate in case anyone is offended.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

_Robin seemed to fight with himself for a minute or so before stepping a bit closer to him._

"_What did he do to you?"_

_Jack stared at him._

_No way._

"What did you say?" Jack asked, suddenly feeling as if he'd been punched in the gut.

Hard.

Robin opened his mouth, steeling himself to say the words that had seemed so much easier to say before Mr Yates had got hold of Jack. He didn't want to think about what had gone on inside that principal's office but he'd be lying if he said he didn't have some idea.

He had to do this. Jack had to get out of this. Robin had to tell him what the principal was like, what was going to happen if he stuck around, and then force him to leave school. No matter what Mr Yates might be using to keep Jack quiet (as there usually was something), Robin could convince him it wasn't worth it.

"Mr Yates," he started in a rush of breath.

He stopped himself when he saw Jack turn away, looking physically sick at the mere mention of the man. It was perhaps his expression then that really brought reality crashing down on Robin. Jack would never forgive him for not telling him sooner.

He'd lose his only friend.

Before Jack had come along, school was hell. He'd never showed up for more than a couple of classes a week and was the bane of more than a few teachers' existences. And now… Well, now things were different. He'd started showing up, staying for the whole six hours and he was just a lot less messed up when he was with Jack.

Could he give that up?

"What about him?" Jack asked defensively.

Looking at him, Robin realised he couldn't hold out for much longer.

"I- I just wanted to say…"

He choked.

"What?" Jack snapped, clearly not in the mood to deal with Robin's tentative approach.

"Um… I just wanted to say I hope he wasn't too harsh on you. This one time he gave me detention for like a month."

That sealed it.

He was officially the scum of the Earth.

For a long moment Jack didn't even breathe: Robin's innocent inquiry into his anything-but-innocent encounter with Mr Yates made him want to die right there and then.

"And," Robin continued, looking oddly troubled. "I'm sorry about the whole thing with Bobby, it won't happen again."

The whole thing with Bobby…?

Oh, he meant the drugs.

It was odd that he had forgotten about something once so important to him that he had punched Robin over it. He supposed some events just put everything else into perspective.

"I guess we're even," Jack said, gesturing the bruise on Robin's jaw.

He couldn't believe he was talking about this so soon after seeing the principal; they might as well be discussing the weather.

"Yeah," Robin agreed, not looking any less uneasy than he had earlier. "Cool."

There was an awkward moment of silence.

Jack glanced around for his brother's car, even if he knew seeing something so heart-breakingly familiar would be more than he could stand. Robin, in turn, glanced at anything other than Jack, feeling unworthy to even be sharing this moment with him. He'd just had God-knows-what happen to him and all he had for comfort was some guy who was blatantly refusing to even ask what the matter was.

"There's a party tonight," Robin said, knowing he was an insensitive bastard before he'd even said the words. "Want to come along?"

Jack guessed it wasn't hosted by anyone from school for obvious reasons.

That meant it was probably someone Robin knew from his extra-curricular activities.

"Sure. When is it?"

Robin looked shocked for a second before realising he wasn't meant to know Jack was fucked up just then and schooling his expression.

"Seven, but we could hang out before, get some alcohol and stuff."

Jack nodded.

"Sounds good."

He gestured for Robin to lead the way, but the other boy hesitated.

"What about Bobby? I thought you said you were getting a ride with him. Won't he be pissed if you just leave?"

Jack shrugged.

"He'll figure I'm out somewhere. Besides, we're not really alright at the moment."

Robin figured the reason for this was personal and so didn't press for details. Instead he walked off in the direction of the nearest liquor store, Jack next to him.

They spent the walk in a contemplative silence.

If Robin noticed the tremors running through Jack's hands he didn't mention it.

If Jack noticed the way Robin was watching him a little more closely than normal, he didn't bring it up.

After all, ignorance was bliss.

* * *

Bobby was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the clock on the opposite wall. He was not in a good mood. In fact, he could feel himself becoming more and more agitated as every second ticked by. 

The whole room still faintly smelt of bleach, his chair was uncomfortable as hell and it was almost half two in the morning.

If Jack didn't show up in the next three seconds, he was going to-

His train of thought halted when he heard a sort of scrabbling at the back door.

The kid always had impeccable timing.

Nevertheless, Bobby didn't get up to help his younger brother negotiate the new lock outside, opting to wait for him to figure it out. After a few seconds more of listening to Jack struggle, the lock clicked and the door opened, tipping Jack and a blast of frigid air inside the kitchen.

Bobby evaluated his brother's movements as he shut the door behind himself. He seemed reasonably steady on his feet until he suddenly lost his balance and stumbled to one side, catching himself on the nearest counter.

Bobby pursed his lips, clearly disapproving at the state his brother was in, and wondering when the kid was going to notice his presence.

If that ever happened, of course.

Maybe he was too high to tell.

"Well," Bobby spoke up, not having the patience to play games.

Jack jumped in surprise, whirling around to face him.

"Jesus Christ," they both exclaimed simultaneously.

Jack, because he'd just been given the fright of his life.

Bobby because his younger brother looked like an absolute mess. He was pale from cold, his eyes were glassy (no doubt due to whatever party he had just been to), and his hair and clothes were in absolute disarray.

"Where the fuck have you been?"

"Party," Jack mumbled.

"Really, Jack? I had no fuckin' idea." Bobby said under his breath, standing up.

He walked over, the harsh kitchen lights only making Jack seem even more washed out than he had on first inspection. Bobby reached out to tilt his brother's face more towards the light but he shrank away.

"I'm fine," Jack said.

"Of course you are."

Bobby tried again, but Jack just backed even further away.

"What is wrong with-"

He stopped abruptly when he noticed the bite marks on Jack's neck.

If this was anyone else but Jack he would have laughed and made a couple of jokes about the sort of girl the guy had hooked up with. However, the point was it _was_ Jack. And Jack was notoriously scared of intimacy and hated being closer than he had to be to anyone, immediate family excluded.

Something was really not right here.

"Just leave me alone," Jack said.

He made to move past Bobby, but his world lurched rather dramatically with the first step away from the counter and he stopped.

"Oh sure," Bobby said, his anger palpable in the air. "Because you're proving time and time again you do just fine without me."

Jack clasped the side of his head.

"I _am_ fine," he repeated.

He made to leave again but swayed rather impressively and Bobby had to move forward and grab his arm to keep him from falling.

"You… you fucking idiot," Bobby muttered. "Do I even want to know what you're strung out on?"

Jack made a motion which could have symbolised smoking and Bobby almost wanted to slap him out of pure frustration. As a compromise, he pulled Jack bodily from the room and up the stairs, telling himself he didn't care as Jack tripped to keep up with Bobby's deliberately quick pace.

Once on the landing, Bobby pulled him through into the bathroom, closing the door behind them. Without saying a word, he roughly pulled the leather jacket from Jack's shoulders, ignoring the way he was oddly stiff in response instead of bristling as he usually would. He dumped the jacket on the floor before pushing Jack into the shower and switching it on.

The only real act of mercy Bobby gave him was making the water warm.

And that was only because Jack probably had hypothermia regardless.

Jack's only reaction to this was to sit down under the spray, his arms wrapped around his knees. His figure was so pitiful just sitting there, soaking wet, clothes clinging to his too-thin body that Bobby almost wanted to apologise. Luckily it was only a fleeting sensation and he stood back, arms crossed, quelling the immense urge to pull Jack out and just hold him.

He'd gone so soft lately.

As Bobby watched him, Jack stared blankly at his bare forearms. The shower felt surprisingly _right_ to him. He'd felt so dirty after being with Mr Yates, he was surprised doing this hadn't occurred to him before then. Of course, in a sick way, he could see maybe that was what he was trying to achieve with Robin's party tonight.

He'd only wanted to forget.

His gaze focussed a little and he realised his wrist was bruised from where his principal had pinned him against the wall. Not really aware he was doing it, his other hand drifted to the mark and started rubbing at it, as if that could be washed away as well. It symbolised that entire meeting to him.

He'd been so damn powerless.

"Hey!"

He was jerked back to reality, by someone seizing his arm and pulling it to the side. He traced the hand gripping his forearm with his gaze, following it up the drenched shirtsleeve to Bobby's concerned face, uncomfortably close.

"Hey," Bobby repeated, this time sounding worried.

Jack traced his eye line back to his other wrist. There, on top of the other bruises, were a line of red gouges in his skin.

How had that…?

He'd… _he'd_… oh God, what the hell had he done?

"Let's get you out," Bobby said, sensing his brother's panic.

And if he perhaps was a little more helpful than he needed to be and let his hands linger a bit too long, he wasn't counting it: he just wanted Jack to be okay. Once Jack was sitting, shivering, on the side of the tub, Bobby handed him a towel and a pile of dry material.

"I got you some clothes."

Jack looked at the simple sweats and T-shirt Bobby had given him as if he had never seen anything like them before. He hadn't even noticed Bobby leave the room.

But then again, he hadn't noticed scratching a layer of skin from his wrist either.

"Thanks," he said softly.

Bobby walked out to give him some privacy and Jack carefully stripped out of his soaked jeans and top and into the clothes Bobby had provided. Not able to bear looking himself in the mirror, he kept his gaze averted as he picked up the towel and dried his hair.

Emerging from the bathroom, he certainly felt more sober, as proven by the way he was walking, rather than stumbling, from the room. However, soberness came with the price that he could now think clearly again and knew he'd really messed up.

Again.

He went to his room to find Bobby already sitting on his bed, one side of his shirt soaked wet from when he stopped Jack from…

Well, doing what he was doing.

Knowing there was no real escape, Jack sat down next to him, but it was a while before Bobby spoke.

"I just don't get you," Bobby said quietly, mindful of the other people asleep in the house.

Feeling wretched, Jack didn't glance over.

"Bobby, I was just-"

"Shut up," he interrupted wearily. "You're going to lie to me anyway."

Jack did as he was told.

"I don't know what's wrong," Bobby tried again. "I don't and I'm not pretending to, but whatever it is, it's tearing you up so badly it's even scaring _me_. You're either completely emotionless, or you're stoned, or your bleeding in the shower… it's too much, Jackie. You're going to burn out. And I'm too tired and too slow to catch up with you every step of the way."

Bobby paused, sounding so achingly sincere Jack wanted nothing more than to just be miraculously _not_ messed up and pretend today had just never happened. There was something about seeing his perpetually-macho brother being vulnerable that made Jack feel special somehow: few people got to see this side of Bobby Mercer. He wanted so badly to be perfect to feel he was good enough to be one of these select few.

"Just," Bobby said with a bitter laugh. "I just want you to know that whenever you feel like you can trust me, I'll be waiting for you to open up, okay? I… I love you, alright?"

Only Bobby could make 'I love you' sound like a challenge.

Nevertheless, Jack inclined his head a fraction in a nod. When the silence stretched on, Jack forced himself to speak, straightening to look Bobby in the eyes.

"It's not that I don't trust you," he said seriously, willing Bobby to believe him.

"It is, Jack. Maybe you do trust me a little, but if you trusted me enough, I'd already know what's wrong. We wouldn't be having this conversation."

Jack mulled that over, not too sure if that was the truth. Bobby was the only person (Evelyn aside) that he had trusted with anything remotely personal or secret, wasn't that 'enough'?

"There are some things you can't tell anyone," Jack said firmly.

That had been one of Mr Yates' terms anyway. He couldn't tell anyone or he'd be kicked out anyway and everyone would know…

He was diverted from that particular line of thought from Bobby suddenly leaning in closer to him.

"Not when it comes to me and you."

He said it so quietly and intimately, he might as well have whispered the words in Jack's ear.

In retrospect, Jack would never be able to recall who instigated what happened next, but before he knew what was happening, Bobby's lips were pressed against his gently and a hand was running through in his hair.

He would, however, remember that he reciprocated.

Then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Bobby ripped himself away from Jack, looking horrified, angry and perhaps more than a little regretful. He stood up, raking a hand through his hair in a harsh imitation of what he had just been doing to Jack. Realising this, he dropped his arm, punching the nearby doorframe instead.

"God _dammit_," he hissed.

Jack had no doubt he would have screamed the words if Evelyn wasn't sleeping in the next room, but he could only watch as Bobby practically ran out, shutting Jack's door behind him as he went as a clear 'don't-follow-me' signal.

"Oh God," Jack muttered.

It was only when he looked down to the ground once more that he noticed his wrist had started bleeding again.

* * *

**A/N: **There we are, an update for each of my stories within a week, not bad, eh? 

So yes, Robin is a bit of a coward as it turns out, but I hope his reasons for not trying to help Jack weren't too horrible. If I was ostracised for as long as he has been, I'd probably try and cling onto a friend too.

Also, sorry to my Jack/Bobby slashers. I gave you a bit of action at the end, but it ended pretty quick, I feel like I've teased you with it ;).

Thanks go to dmitri for beta-ing this chapter.

Hope it was worth the wait :).


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Jack woke the next morning to the sounds of shuffling in the room next to him, punctuated by the occasional muffled curse. Frowning against the painfully bright lights in his room (which really weren't that bright at all), he sat up in bed, grimacing. The realisation that drinking so heavily (even on a Friday night) was a bad idea, no matter what had led up to it, came a little late to be of any use.

Jack stood up and stumbled out across the hall and into the bathroom to splash cold water in his face. Once he could see without squinting pitifully again, he caught sight of a pile of his clothes in one corner of the bathroom, Bobby's old leather jacket tossed carelessly over the towel rack. It was that, more than anything else, which reminded him of how much he had forgotten of last night. Jack's wide eyes met his reflection's in the bathroom mirror before darting around as if to assure himself what he was remembering was actually a nightmare. Unfortunately, all that accomplished was a fleeting glance at his wrist which, in turn, brought back his brother's 'burning out' speech, and then…

Bobby.

With a cold seeping of dread that Jack tried to ignore, he couldn't help but wonder at the odd sounds coming from Bobby's room. He was rarely up before at least two on a Saturday, and even then he usually spent the day watching hockey or drinking beer, never holed up in his room.

Taking one last glance at his just-woken-up-with-a-hangover appearance, Jack left the bathroom and walked over to Bobby's room. He entered without bothering to knock, knowing that privacy was something you abandoned when living with three other guys.

Still, Jack couldn't help but blink at the sight that met his eyes when he opened the door: an open suitcase on the bed, partially filled, and Bobby moving around, picking things up off his floor and chucking them inside.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, his throat dry.

He had to ask because it couldn't be what he thought it was.

Bobby straightened from where he was sifting through a heap of denim and turned to face him. He hitched up a nonchalant smirk at seeing Jack.

"Just going away for a few days, Jackie, that's all."

"That's all?" Jack echoed.

Bobby nodded, dumping the clothes he had gathered in his arms into the case.

"B-But why?"

Bobby shrugged, still wearing that obviously fake 'this-isn't-weird' smirk.

"Just felt like a change for a bit."

Yeah, right.

Jack leant awkwardly against the doorway, watching his brother busy around, getting his stuff together. If this was happening under any other circumstance, he would have helped out. If it was under any other circumstance, Bobby would have snuck him a beer after. Unfortunately, never on any of those other occasions had Bobby taken off because of him.

"Is this about last night?" Jack ventured, knowing the answer but not wanting to sound accusatory.

Bobby paused.

"No."

Jack crossed his arms, wanting to scream in frustration. Bobby was always upfront about everything; Jack had never had to pry something out of him before and honestly didn't know how to go about it.

"Just that if it is, I was drunk, okay? And, well… you…"

Actually, what was Bobby?

He was sober, had pretty good judgement and was pissed as hell at him if the shower-experience was anything to go by. Did that mean he had wanted this?

Luckily, before the silence could stretch on, Bobby spoke.

"It's not about last night. Just drop it, will you?"

This was bad.

If Bobby wasn't going to talk, Bobby was going to leave.

"You can't go," Jack protested.

Bobby sighed.

"Why not, Jack?"

_Because of Mr Yates._

_Because I'm scared._

_Because I can't do this on my own._

His words just didn't seem to form right and Jack floundered for a reason he could actually tell Bobby.

"B-Because Evelyn needs you… And Jerry…"

"Not you, though?"

Well, at least he had dropped that clearly painful smile.

"I…"

"'Cause last night was a bit worrying, see?"

Bobby's eyes significantly drifted down his left arm and Jack frowned at him, wondering why he was even leaving if he knew Jack was so messed up. Unless… unless that was what was driving him away?

Well, if that was the problem, he'd never break again.

"It was a one-off, Bobby. Seriously, I'm fine; I was just a bit drunk."

Bobby looked at him incredulously.

"'Seriously' you're fine? I've never seen you so freaked out before."

"Is that why you're going?"

"_No_," Bobby insisted. "Just… Just forget it."

Jack fell silent once more, but the suitcase was almost full and he couldn't stand one more aspect of his life fucking up so terribly.

"Please don't go."

He hadn't even realised he had spoken up until Bobby looked over at him, something akin to regret in his eyes.

"I need some space."

Jack took that to mean he was going anyway.

He left the room, feeling numb.

-

Bobby had dropped a note on the kitchen table for Evelyn, feeling that he didn't need to wake her up from her Saturday lie-in just because he was leaving. Jack, despite protesting Bobby's going, clearly agreed, as he hadn't tried to get her to talk him round and had instead shut himself in his room to play some doubtlessly complicated riff on his guitar. Propping the note more securely against the salt shaker, Bobby ignored the small voice in his head that was telling him this was a very bad idea.

Unfortunately, that little voice was awfully persistent.

Bobby picked up his suitcase and walked out the back door, saying one last mental goodbye to Jack upstairs. He only managed to take one step outside before the suitcase was yanked out of his hand and a strong grip on his shoulders turned him back round, pushing him inside the house again.

"What the fuck?" he asked, disorientated.

"You're not walking out," Jerry said firmly, dumping his suitcase against one leg of the kitchen table as Angel shoved him into one of the surrounding wooden chairs.

"Yes, I am," Bobby protested, making to stand up again.

Both Jerry and Angel pushed him back into his seat.

"No," Angel declared.

Bobby crossed his arms.

"Ya'll may think you're grown up, but I can still kick your asses if you don't get off me right now."

Angel almost looked ready to back off before Jerry simply snorted.

"Yeah, sure, and we're really very scared," he said, smirking. "But you try and walk out of that door one more time and I'm shouting for Ma."

That was underhanded, even for a Mercer.

"Back off, Jer, this isn't any of your business."

The hands on his shoulders didn't move.

"It is our business because if you leave again after you promised you wouldn't… after you promised _Jack_ you wouldn't… we're going to have to pick up the pieces."

"And Jack isn't doing so good lately," Angel added grimly.

Like Bobby needed anyone to tell him that.

"Yeah?" Bobby snarled aggressively. "I hadn't noticed."

He made to get up again and this time he was actually shoved back into his seat. Hard.

"I have to leave home at some point," Bobby pointed out lowly, losing patience with his brothers.

"Not right now," Jerry argued. "Not when it's so obvious Jack won't be able to take it."

Bobby knew that saying he wasn't sure if he could take being around Jack would provoke very troublesome questions so he stayed quiet.

"He's never late home," Angel said, referring to the night before.

All four of them had stayed up until two in the morning waiting for Jack to show up before Bobby had argued only one of them really had to be there and he was the most awake. None of the other three were happy about the decision and the words 'he's never late home' had cropped up more than once. Still, according to the rest of the Mercers, Jack 'never' does drugs, 'never' does God-knows-what with God-knows-who at parties, 'never' does half the stuff Bobby realised he did last night.

"Everyone makes mistakes."

"Quite a few, apparently," Angel corrected. "I heard you guys last night."

For one breathless moment, Bobby thought he was referring to that Incident last night, before assuming he only meant all of the shouting.

"Well, then maybe this will act as a wake-up call."

Jerry looked about ready to strangle him.

"This isn't a wake-up call, this is you leaving him. Do you actually have a reason for going or are you just that selfish?"

Bobby cocked his head, fast tiring of all the interfering and feeling crap enough about this decision without every member of his family having a go at him.

"I need some space," he said aggressively.

"Bullshit," Angel muttered.

Bobby made another attempt to stand up and was once again held back by his two brothers.

"You know what is bullshit?" he half-shouted, conscious of Jack upstairs. "It's you stopping me from going because you guys don't think you can handle one sixteen-year-old kid on your own."

That seemed to be the last straw as the ever-pacifist Jerry thrust him hard against the back of the chair.

"This isn't just one sixteen-year-old kid here, its Jack. You've known the shit he's been through better than any of us, including Ma, and you know better than any of us that right now he needs his brothers. You walk out and he's gonna break. You know that." Jerry yelled, his voice getting progressively louder as he continued.

No one noticed the guitar music drifting down from upstairs had stopped, even as Bobby fell silent, glaring mutinously at the table.

Of course he had considered that, but somehow his walking out had seemed a lot less of a big deal before it had been spelled out.

"You know what?" Jerry said, with a hint of a laugh in his voice. "You wanna go? Fine. Whatever. Do it for all we care. But you just think about what Ma's going to say about all this shit."

With that, Jerry backed off, releasing Bobby's right shoulder and gesturing for Angel to do the same. Bobby stood up, a little uneasy at the sudden change in moods, and picked up his suitcase from where Jerry had dumped it.

There was one moment as he glanced between the two doors available to him: the one leading to the back yard, the other leading to the lounge, before Bobby nodded, adjusting his grip on his bag.

"Alright, see you guys in a few days."

Bobby attempted a smile, but at receiving only stony glares in response, admitted defeat and walked out the door.

-

_Two hours later_

"Hey, you guys hungry?" Jack called out of the kitchen to where Angel and Jerry were watching some show on TV.

They exchanged looks, surprised at how well he seemed to be taking Bobby's leaving, before walking through to where Jack was frowning in thought at the contents of their fridge.

"Seems pretty bare," Jerry remarked.

"I guess Bobby took…" Angel started, before picking up on Jerry's glare and trailing off.

"I can make pancakes," Jack offered, taking the relevant ingredients out.

"Sounds good," Angel said, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Need any help?" Jerry asked, hovering by Jack's shoulder.

Jack shook his head, pushing his sleeves up to his elbows and finding a proper mixing bowl in one of the cupboards.

"I thought you left that stuff to Camille these days, anyway," Angel said in a deadpan, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Yeah, well," Jerry said, shrugging. "It's like riding a bike, right, Jack?"

"Sure is," he said distractedly.

Jack focussed on cracking eggs into the bowl, ignoring the obvious absence of their older brother as best he could.

"Should I make enough for four?" Jack asked, looking around in time to see the twin awkward expressions on his brother's faces.

"Uh… Jack… Bobby's-"

"I meant for Evelyn," Jack explained quickly, cutting Angel off.

"Oh, then yeah," Jerry covered quickly. "She'd appreciate that. Bit of a break from cooking and all."

Jack continued preparing the batter in silence as his brothers tried to make conversation in the background. That in itself was an oddity as usually he was plagued with the familiar arsenal of 'housewife' comments if he ever offered to cook for them when Bobby was around.

Which, he supposed, was the whole point.

Just as he was getting lost in his own melancholy, the back door opened in a whirl of cold air, drawing the attention of the three boys in the kitchen. There, framed in the pale blue light of winter, was Bobby.

"Who feels like hockey?" he asked, brushing ice of his gloves.

Jerry let out a reluctantly relieved smile at seeing his older brother.

"I'll just go and get my skates," he said, standing up and taking Angel with him.

Jack just stared at the new arrival, not making any move or word of greeting as Bobby turned his gaze on him.

"Don't worry, Jackie, you can play Martha Stewart later. Right now, we're playing hockey."

Jack forced himself out of his trance.

"You can't just choose when to be around, you know," he said lowly.

"But apparently you can," Bobby said cryptically. "I never even made it out of the city."

That admission drew a slight smile from Jack.

"And you do realise hockey isn't the answer to everything, right?"

Bobby grinned.

"Do you realise who you're talking to?"

Although he knew Jack's bitterness towards him had pretty much vanished when he'd walked through the door, Bobby was still surprised when arms wrapped around his waist.

"I'm glad you didn't go."

"Yeah?" Bobby said. "Good job I didn't. I come back after a couple of hours and see you making _pancakes_. God knows what I would have seen if I was away for a whole day."

Jack hit him.

* * *

**A/N: **Woah, sorry, my muse completely abandoned me and then revision got in the way of polishing this up enough to upload it.

Still, here you go, a new chapter.

I know this one has randomly come in three parts, but it was either that or ending it on second and expanding the last one into its own separate chapter which i decided would be a bit too slow-paced at the moment, especially taking the last chapter into account. Hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Also, don't worry about me discontinuing this story despite my rather... um... erratic updates. Although I don't see that happening, if it ever did, I'd post a message on my bio, i wouldn't just leave you hanging.

Hope you guys had a good holiday :).


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